Yu Yu Hakusho: The Lost Chapters
by makoto140
Summary: Yu Yu Hakusho didn't go down QUITE like you thought it did! A new team joins the Dark Tournament. OCxHiei
1. Chapter 1: Invitation

This is a story based on my friend's original character, along with mine and our friends' original characters! While it takes place within the Yu Yu Hakusho timeline, it won't follow the story exactly.

Warning: This story is a slow burner!

Reviews and critiscisms are encouraged and welcome!

This fanfiction now has its own DeviantArt account!: YYHTheLostChapters

Go there to see drawings of what the characters look like! But be warned- there are spoilers for events past Chapter 1, so enter when you've caught up!

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, including Hiei, Yusuke, Kurama or any other character in the Yu Yu Hakusho anime!

Chapter 1: Invitation

Flames crackled and popped in the warm fireplace of the otherwise dingy hotel lobby. Flein crouched closer to the bright fire, trying to absorb its heat before she would have to go outside and brave the chilly night air. In most cases the sight and warmth of fire would comfort her, but in some cases it reminded her of home. Of course, she had arrived to her destroyed village long after it had already burnt to the ground those long years ago, so she had the fortune not to have seen the flames slowly disentigrate her home. Still, she would sometimes picture it on quiet nights like these, wondering how bright the flames were, if there were any survivors, what the nice old lady who raised her was doing at the time the Spirit Defense Force destroyed her whole life.

Flein shook these invasive thoughts from her mind and secured her loose knit cap over her head. It was one of the many things she had to adapt to- hats. After escaping to the human world, she learned quite quickly that humans did not react fondly to her cat ears, nor her tail, which was presently curled uncomfortably under her jeans. Several times she was misled into thinking that humans tolerated her demon appearance, considering the most she got were confused glances and annoyed glares. However, it escalated into chaos as soon as any of them tried to touch her ears or tail, or tried to convince her to "take off that costume", as they liked to put it. Nowadays, Flein learned to avoid as much of that conflict as possible, even for the sake of her own discomfort. Although she has adapted fine on her own, the thought of human contact for any prolonged period of time made the hairs on her ears and tail stand up.

Picking up her bag with her old sword hidden inside, Flein walked out of the hotel doors and into the chilly night air. Even on nights like these, it was hard for her to sleep like everyone else. She thought that after 4 years of being in the human world, her body would have eventually adapted into a diurnal cycle, yet she was walking the streets in the middle of the night again.

"_Meow._"

Flein stopped short when she heard the noise, her shoes scraping the sidewalk. If the noise were any louder, she might have jumped 3 feet in the air. Milliseconds after realizing the sound wasn't deadly, she turned to find a dirty brown cat lazing about on a grungy cardboard box. Its eyelids drooped a bit, its gaze staring at her knowingly.

"Hey there, little guy," she cooed, kneeling down to stroke the cat on its head, brushing over his ears in which pieces had obviously been bitten or chewed off over the years. One look in his eyes was all she needed to know what he wanted. "You're hungry, aren't you? I'd give ya food if I had any . ."

Suddenly a scream erupted into the air like a sharp knife through flesh. The cat retreated behind a dumpster before Flein had barely finished her sentence, and Flein herself almost jumped out of her skin this time. Another scream shrieked like a siren and invaded her ears like sharp needle points. Flein instinctively ducked low into the shadows and listened, realizing the screams were coming from the dark ally nearby a convenience store. The screams sounded as if it were one of a woman's, one being tortured or killed at that. Every cell in Flein's body was screaming to not go into the ally, and she wasn't one to ignore her instincts. She started to slink off in the opposite direction, when she distinctly heard a terrified and raspy voice yell, "What _are_ you?! HELP ME! It's a MONSTER!"

Flein was about to slink faster except she stopped in her tracks as she thought over what was said.

Monster? Flein knew well that this city had frequent crime involving druggies, rapists, and murderers, but they were all human nevertheless. It wasn't often that she heard of anyone being mistaken for a monster. She had a bad feeling that this wasn't just a typical crime.

A rank and stifling odor met her nose, and sniffing the air proved her guess to be true: This was the unmistakable smell of a demon. Being surrounded by humans for years made this smell an overwhelming contrast to the air around her, and perhaps because she wanted to do the right thing, or maybe because she was used to wiping out demons to protect her village, she regrettably knew she had to do something.

Sneaking along the edge of the wall, Flein peeked around the corner of the dark ally and squinted her eyes. The night had grown quiet again, and she thought that perhaps maybe she was too late to save the woman. However, the demon's retched sink still coated the air. Peering into the dark, she could make out a large hulking outline with two- maybe three?- horns looming over. She silently thought how grateful she was to have good night vision, and stealthily tip-toed closer to the giant form. She could hear a strange slurping noise, like someone sucking something mushy through a straw.

"_I'm too late to save her_," Flein thought, trying not to feel too disappointed. Getting emotional now would compromise her chances of taking out her murderer.

Making her way to the beast took minutes that seemed like hours. Thoughts raced through her mind as his form grew bigger and bigger as she got closer, the slurping sounds getting louder.

"_How did this demon get here? It's obviously a lower classed demon . _." she thought, her fingers flexing in preparation for her kill. "_If more come here . . it'll jeapoardize my safety I worked so hard to maintain . . I can't let that happen_!"

Just as the muscles in her legs tensed like a spring about to launch from the ground, the demon's head swiveled around to look at her, a huge trunk-like nose trailing down to the lifeless body at his feet. However, he noticed her presence far too late.

Seething pain seared across his face in the form of four quick slashes, blood pouring from his cheek and eye and blinding him from another attack to the stomach. The demon bent over, clutching the left side of his face and his midsection, in which Flein's claws had been in moments before. While he was busy gurgling in pain at his unexpected injuries, Flein casually dropped her bag to the ground and unzipped it to reveal its contents.

"I haven't used this old thing in a while. This might not be as clean of a cut as it should be" she said, talking more to herself than the moaning demon before her. She grabbed the sword by its base and pulled it slowly from her bag, admiring the comfortable and nostalgic feeling it caused when she held it in her hands. After unsheathing it, it took only one quick stroke to silence the demon, its head rolling towards a nearby dumpster, its long trunk of a nose following after.

Flein sheathed the sword afterward, regretting that she only got to use it once after such a long time. As she was returning the weapon to her bag, she glanced at the human woman's body laying limply on the concrete, her intestines and other internal organs revealed to the world. While she normally didn't particularly care about humans one way or the other, she wished she could have slayed the demon a bit sooner. Of course, that would require more explaining on her part.

"Well done."

A voice broke Flein's contemplative silence, and she swirled around to face its source.

She was surprised to find a shapely woman behind her, long red hair flowing to just under her hips, thick make-up covering her face. She wore a skimpy red dress that had the amount of revealing flesh directly equivalent to the amount of smugness displayed on her face. Right away Flein could tell she was a demon as well, a higher class than the one she had just killed. Flein tensed her body, preparing for an actual challenge this time.

"No need for that," the woman spoke in a sultry voice. "I'm not here to fight. Although I couldn't help noticing you are quite skilled at it."

"Who are you? What do you want?" Flein asked bluntly. She didn't want to waste time having small chat with this demon, who was setting off alarm bells in her head.

"I am Ruka, of the Dark Tournament committee," she said, unfazed by Flein's unwillingness to calm down. "I assume you know what the Dark Tournament is."

"Noooooo . ." Flein said slowly, wishing she would get to the point. Suddenly sleeping in the hotel lobby seemed like a better idea.

Ruka sighed impatiently before continuing. "The Dark Tournament is a fighting competition for skilled demons, such as yourself. It's a tournament held on Hanging Neck Island and competitors fight to the death, the prize being a wish for whatever the winners want."

"A fighting tournament? For demons? Hmm . . sounds like fun . ." Flein murmured, letting her guard down a little as she considered the possibilities. "Wait . . You didn't just release that demon out here in order to test my strength, did you?"

"Is that really of any concern to you?" Ruka purred, her smile giving away her intentions. "In any case, you should sign up soon if you want to compete in the tournament. You'd put up an . . interesting fight for our spectators." She turned to walk away, before stopping and looking back again. "Oh yes, I almost forgot. You also require four other fighters in order to compete. I suggest you choose them wisely. Good luck." Before Flein could respond, the mysterious woman disappeared into the darkness.

Flein picked up her bag and waited a few seconds, in case any other demon decided to pop out and have a conversation with her. She wasn't normally a person to go out of her way to join big events, but the chance to test her skills on other demons was too tempting to ignore.

"_Hanging Neck Island, huh . . Guess I should find out where this place is . _."


	2. Chapter 2: Ride to Hanging Neck Island

Chapter 2: The Ride to Hanging Neck Island

Warm air blew across her exposed midriff, as Flein stepped onto the dock. In this secluded area, the number of demons she saw were too numerous to count. There were four-armed demons, demons with many eyes or even no eyes, demons with horns, demons of all different shapes and colors, and there were even demons hanging out near the water whose fins revealed their ability to swim with the fish. It had been a long time since Flein had been around this many demons, and an event like this seemed to draw them from all parts of Spirit World.

The only thing she wanted to do to prepare the night before is take off her always-mismatching pink knit cap and cut a hole in the back of her jeans, in order to let her ears and tail show freely. If she was going to have to be around demons for the majority of her time on Hanging Neck Island, she was going to take advantage of it. As well as cutting a hole in her jeans, she also cut off the legs section of the garment, transforming them into denim shorts. She knew if she had to fight, it was best to remove as many restrictions as possible.

Even though the demons were doing a variety of things- talking smack to each other, having dinner, playing card games- every one of them seemed to be on edge, as the time the boat should arrive was approaching. Flein spotted a remote area on the ground she could sit and headed there to wait. All different kinds of smells assaulted her nose as she walked through the immense crowd of strangers, most of them unpleasing. She tried not to gag as she ducked through a group of squabbling bird demons, and felt relief when her waiting spot was now only feet away, still untaken.

"Hey, girlie! How about ya take a seat over here, I'll show ya a good time!" roared someone behind her. Flein ignored this and continued walking, silently willing the stranger to leave her alone. "Hey, girlie, didja hear me?! What good are those pretty little ears?!" The demon's group of friends howled with laughter behind him, obviously drunk before the big event had even arrived. Flein continued to ignore them, and sat at her waiting spot as if it were a safe zone, facing the water so she wouldn't have to look at the drunk demons behind her. Eventually their obnoxious laughter ceased and they continued talking amongst themselves. Flein felt like she had successfully bored them enough to turn away from her. Even though she could guess that they were demons of a lower class, at least all of them had the intelligence not to pick a fight with her.

The boat's horn simultaneously silenced and invigorated the crowd of demons. Its form inched closer and closer to the dock before finally resting at a stopping point, opening a platform for the demons to board. Flein waited patiently for most of the boisterous herd of demons to board before her so she wouldn't have to be pushed around. Finally, she followed a group of cyclops onto the small boat and kept her eyes open for a new waiting spot, which ended up being an area near the railings of the boat. She leaned her back against the railings and relaxed as the boat set off for Hanging Neck Island. The demons' loudness increased along with their anticipation, and Flein had to resist holding her sensitive ears shut.

Across from her, sitting near the opposite side of the railings, was a young demon girl with long, braided black hair. She was staring passively at the lurching water underneath the boat, and Flein couldn't tell if she was upset, nervous, or simply bored.

Flein scanned the rest of the crowd. It just now occurred to her that she and this stranger are probably the only two females on the boat.

"_There are so many demons here . . Are they __**all **__going to fight in the tournament?_" Flein wondered. "_Assuming there are multiple trips back and forth to Hanging Neck Island . . that has to be literally thousands of demons. There has to be a way to narrow us down . . I don't want to waste my time fighting these types of demons._"

Then Flein remembered that she would eventually have to choose from this pool of demons if she ever wanted to have a full team of five members. She sighed. At least the girl sitting across from her looked alone, and she didn't seem as though she were from as low of a class either. Just as she was considering asking the girl if she wanted to join her team, the boat's captain walked into view with a loudspeaker.

"Listen up ya pile of low life scum!" he roared into the speaker, causing Flein's ears to bend back in pain. He sounded as if he had to already go through this speech several times already. "If ya didn't know it before, ya do now- this here boat is actually the preliminary rounds of the Dark Tournament! We can't have all of ya be joining the tournament, see? Not enough room, not enough time."

Confused voices floated through the air as the less intelligent demons were trying to figure out what the captain meant. But Flein smiled. Just as she thought, there had to be a way to separate the strong from the weak.

As if on cue, the floor split open underneath the demons converged in the middle of the boat, and they scurried to the side as the floor opened up and a circular tiled platform rose slowly into the air. There was no mistake- this platform was the kind meant to be covered in blood. This visual finally got through to all of the demons, and the boat erupted with hoots and excited laughing from the impatient demons and whimpers from the cowards.

"Shut ap, ya mangy group of dogs! I ain't finished yet!" the captain hollered into the loudspeaker. "Each one of ya are gonna pick ONE person- I said ONE!- of your team members to represent your team up there on that platform. Then ya gonna have a fight to the death-"

The boat's passengers erupted into loud cheering and excited talking, some groups already fighting amongst themselves over who gets to join in this battle royale.

"QUIT YER YAMMERIN'! I STILL AIN'T FINISHED!" the captain roared into the loudspeaker, and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Flein could tell he was already considering going into another line of work. The demons quieted down, but the silence was a tense one. "After all of ya on that platform are dead meat and there's one of ya's left standin', the team who that member belongs to will be the only team that is elig- . . eligib- . . eligibul- . . is _allowed_ to enter the Dark Tournament."

A roar of outrage and angry yelling broke the silence again. Flein was almost sure that the demons were going to throw the captain himself off the boat. The demon girl across from her was standing now, listening intently, her silence creating a stark contrast to the rest of the passengers.

"PIPE DOWN! Them's the rules! Now pick one of ya sorry asses to go up there and fight!" The captain took a swig of whatever alcoholic liquid was in his drinking pouch, looking grateful that this whole mess was almost over. The boat erupted into heated discussion again, as teams either logically thought it out or just plain fought each other for the chance to be the team's representative.

"_Well, this looks like an easy decision for me_." Flein thought bemused, and sprung onto the fighting platform. Only a couple demons were already there, including the demon girl who was across from her only moments before. It looked like it had been an easy decision for her as well.

"_Looks like she won't be a team member after all, considering now she'll probably attack me_." Flein thought. "_Too late to ask her to be part of my team now_."

After a few minutes of heated debate, more and more demons started to trickle onto the fighting platform.

"HURRY UP YA STINKING BRUTES, I AIN'T GOT ALL DAY" the captain screamed at the top of his lungs. Once a considerable amount of fighters were on the platform to constitute a battle royale, the captain's patience was at an end and figured it was good enough without taking a head count. "All right, ya ready to shed some blood?!"

The demons roared approval, shouting for their team member to tear everyone limb from limb. "PICK OFF THE WOMEN FIRST!" Flein could hear from the crowd, and she turned to glare in the general direction it came from. In the corner of her eye, she thought she saw movement of the demon girl beside her doing the same.

"All right . . Ready, set . . FIGHT!" the captain yelled, before sitting down and taking another swig of alcohol.

Everyone seemed to spring at once, and while Flein at first thought it was her imagination, it seemed like a third of the competitors launched towards her. She immediately switched to defensive tactics and put a barrier up just as the majority of the demons crashed into it full force. Some bodies sprang back from the barrier like bouncy balls while others with a quicker reaction time skidded to a stop just before colliding into it. Those who weren't cheaply picked off after being knocked to the ground stood back up and started punching and kicking at Flein's barrier. Soon she was surrounded by demons attempting to break her barrier, screaming obsceneties at her.

"_What the hell?! Why are they all after me?" _Flein thought, gritting her teeth and keeping her focus. She turned to glance at the other side of the platform and saw the other female of the group having a similar time, her long black braid swinging behind her as she dodged multiple pursuers at once.

"KILL THE WOMEN! Only the strong survive!" the audience was screaming with a bloodthirsty look in their eyes. "Show 'em their place! KILL THEM!"

Anger and frustration boiled up in Flein's stomach. "Sorry to break it to you, but I'm not dying here!" she hissed, and put down her barrier while simultaneously jumping into the air. Demons collided into each other, and those on the outskirts of the crowd reached up their clawed hands to grab her.

She landed gracefully behind a four-armed ogre, and without looking behind her, turned and aimed a kick into his back, sending the large beast onto several smaller demons who squirmed and suffocated under his weight. She dodged kicks and punches, and in turn returned them back, only she was fast enough to land them. She dug her claws into a horned demon's face, only to turn around and dig them into the chest of a hairy giant. The cluster around here was utter chaos, as mislanded punches caused some of the demons around her to fight against each other. Blood started to pool underneath her from her enemies' cuts and she had to concentrate on not slipping on it, which would give the others an opening that might be fatal when outnumbered. She started to put them down little by little, which meant she could dodge less and attack more- in no time, most of the competitors were collapsed, bleeding out. Even when outnumbered, these lower class demons were no challenge for her, and she didn't like to waste her energy on them with any of her stronger attacks.

Flein had been so focused on fighting that she hadn't noticed that the screaming from the audience was reaching deafening levels. As she was inflicting more lacerations on her last two pursuers, she noticed that most of the platform was cleared out. It felt like an hour but it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. Putting down the final fighter in front of her with one fatal slash to the forehead, he collapsed in front of her, unblocking her vision of the sole fighter left on the platform other than her- the demon girl.


	3. Chapter 3: Kirda

Chapter 3: Kirda

The girl's braided hair rested on her right shoulder, parts of it sticking out in places. Her skirt was soaked with- blood? No. Flein looked at the girl's similar pile of bodies scattered around her. Instead of spatterings of red like Flein's side of the platform, her side of the platform looked like it had been washed down with a high-powered hose, her victims laying fat and bloated in heaps.

"_What the . _." Before Flein could finish her thought, the girl turned to look her in the eyes. Something about her expression wasn't a threatening one, as if she were simply going to observe what her opponent would do before attacking. Nevertheless, Flein tensed her whole body in preparation. "_Whatever she did, I'm about to find out . ._"

Their staring contest was interrupted with the enraged screaming of the audience members, who were now all officially disqualified from entering the tournament.

"Beaten by a couple of WOMEN?! This is BULLSHIT!" they hollered. Flein didn't want to take her eyes off of her opponent, but couldn't help darting her eyes to the audience from time to time. Something about the way they were screaming in rage gave her a bad feeling. She noticed that her opponent was glancing sideways suspiciously as well, every once in a while returning her glance to Flein, with an inquisitive look in her eyes.

"HAR HAR HAR! Bested by a bunch of dames! I never seen such a hilarious sight in all my years, and I'm far from young!" The captain was laughing loudly, only furthering to enrage the other demons.

"GIVE US A REMATCH, OLD MAN!" demanded the demons. "We can't stand for this!"

"Shut ap, ya lost fair and square! If it helps ya any, now they're gonna try to kill each other. Nothin' like a good cat fight!" the captain leaned back on his stool.

The resulting outrage from the captain's noncompliance caused their yelling and screaming to reach deafening levels again. "I'M NOT SACRIFICING MY SPOT FOR THIS! Kill the women! I'll kill everyone on this boat until my team's the last one standing!"

Now Flein and her opponent weren't even looking at each other- in fact, their backs faced one another as demons started to crawl up onto the platform from all sides. The captain scurried away and hid himself in the captain's chamber, although demons were more focused on targeting each other- and more specifically, the women.

Without saying a word, they started to fight- Flein scratching and kicking a handful of opponents at once while her temporary companion shot water from her hands and downed several clusters of demons simultaneously, with a flow so strong some of them sailed off the boat and landed in the sea. However, the amount of enemies they had was now quadrupled from before, as every member of every team joined the fight. Flein had to resort to fire to take down the ones who wouldn't stay on the ground, while her wind power was successful in decreasing the amount of demons charging at her at once. As she focused on slaying the enemies in front of her, all of the noise and commotion prevented her from hearing the ogre behind her, who grabbed her by the back of the shirt and lifted her high into the air. Just as she was about to latch onto his arm and dig her claws in, a burst of water shot and propelled her out of his grasp. She flipped in midair and landed on her feet, just in time to see her former female opponent shoot another stream of water into the ogre's face. He gurgled and attempted to block his face with his hand, then used his other fist to angrily knock the water demon off of her feet.

Flein launched onto his back, scraping his tough skin with her claws as she climbed up his body and onto his shoulders. He wriggled around and tried to grab her off of his back, but his arms were far too short and stocky to reach her. She reached around from behind his head and gouged his eyes with the two claws of her pointer fingers, then bounced off the beast as he screamed and stumbled around in agony, kicking other demons out of his way, crushing others under his feet. A huge wave of water gushed over the platform, and Flein quickly jumped to safety on the roof of the captain's chambers before the wave took her out. The wave washed the ogre and the other leftover demons out to sea with it, almost turning over the boat entirely. Flein turned to see the water demon sitting up, her arms spread out high, in which she had used to make her final attack. Then when the boat stopped rocking and it was clear that the other demons had either been destroyed or had retreated, she lay back down on the platform with her eyes raised to the sky.

Flein jumped down onto the platform and approached the other demon slowly, ringing out her shirt of water. She could easily kill her right now, with one cut to the stomach. But something about this girl felt non-confrontational, and Flein wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of killing someone who didn't want to fight.

The cat demon cleared her throat, not sure of what to say. Should she thank her? Ask her if the truce is over? Tell her to get up and pay more attention or else someone could just come along and stab her? She didn't have to think of breaking the silence for long.

"I'm tired," the water demon muttered, exhaustion coating her voice. "And I'm hungry."

Flein stumbled for a response, before finally resorting to an awkward "Me too."

The other girl sat up suddenly, making eye contact without any shame. "Aren't you cold in that?"

At first Flein didn't know what she meant, before finally realizing she was referring to her outfit. Flein instinctively looked down at her own clothes, even though she knew full well what she was wearing. "Well, I kinda am now, considering I'm all wet," Flein replied, grabbing her own hair and ringing it out too. She didn't like to be wet. It made her cold, and plus it took the fur on her ears and tail longer to dry.

"Oh. Sorry about that!" the girl said, smiling. She didn't look sorry at all. In fact, Flein would say that she looked rather amused. "My name's Kirda! What's your name?"

"Flein." she replied. Introductions were another thing she hadn't done in a long time.

A door slammed open with a thud, making Flein jump and Kirda look at her with a bemused expression.

"HAR HAR HAR! Looks like after all that squabble, you lassies are the last ones left after all!" the captain hooted, almost toppling over onto the floor. Flein guessed that he'd had a few more drinks during the fight.

"You aren't going to make us kill each other now, are you?" Kirda boldly asked with a laugh. Her personality was completely different than the one Flein had imagined when she saw the quiet girl looking at the waves at the beginning of her trip.

"Well, considerin' there's just two of ya . . nah, I dun think there's any point to it, lass! Unless ya wanna amuse an old man." he slurred, supporting his weight on the stool. "In fact-" An ill-timed belch interrupted his sentence before he continued. "In fact, ya gals ain't even got enough for a full team! Ain't that the kicker?! Ya go through all this trouble . . and then ya don't even . . ya don't even have enough money to pay for child support for yer goddamn kids . ."

Flein and Kirda stared at the captain silently as he tottered back towards the wheel of the boat.

"Don' worry, I'll getcha to that island anyways, dontcha worry yer pretty little . . heads." he mumbled, taking the wheel.

Kirda glanced back up at Flein knowingly. "Hope he can get us there! I could use a bath . ."

Something rattled loudly behind a box of boat equipment, and Flein soared feet into the air again.

"Haha! You're jumpy, aren't ya?" Kirda said with a laughing expression.

"What was that?! Is there someone left we missed?" Flein asked, all of the muscles in her body coiling up again. Kirda finally stood up and headed toward the box of equipment.

"Helloooo? Someone there?" she cooed lightly, preparing to peek around the box. Flein was surprised she could so easily approach an unknown sound after all that had just happened.

Kirda stepped back in shock as a figure suddenly crawled out from behind the box. At first Flein thought she was seeing a giant, moving doll. Then the doll- or the girl, as Flein noticed seconds later- turned her head to look at them with a dumbfounded expression and simply asked, "Is it over?"


	4. Chapter 4: Arrival

Chapter 4: Arrival

The girl had long, black, shiny hair that was bundled up into a large bow on her head, the rest of her hair cascading in silky strands around her shoulders. The outfit she was wearing is what made Flein mistake her for a doll- she was wearing something that looked like it came straight off of a child's favorite baby doll, the expensive kind of doll with 17 different lace dresses you had to pay separately for. It was red with pink lace, with a pattern of unicorns littering the hem. To top off the outfit, she wore white stockings and white buckled shoes, as shiny as a glass goblet scrubbed clean.

She stood up, brushing off imaginary dirt from her elaborate dress. Her brown eyes turned to the other two girls expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"Well, um," Kirda stuttered, recovering from the shock of seeing this brightly-clothed stranger. "I'm pretty sure all the demons are gone. I mean, I'm surprised you weren't carried off the boat with my attack as well! In fact, I didn't even notice you on this boat the whole time . ." Kirda laughed hesitantly, and Flein recognized the meaning behind her laugh- it was especially strange that nobody noticed her on the boat, considering she stuck out like a sore thumb. "Why were you sitting behind that box anyway?"

"Well I was . . hiding." the raven-haired girl said with reluctance. "Not that I couldn't hold my own in a fight like that! But because I don't want to get my dress dirty." She held the hem of her dress up in a semi-curtsey, as if Kirda and Flein couldn't already see it themselves.

"Your outfit isn't exactly suited for fighting." Flein said bluntly. No use trying to tiptoe around the issue.

The girl smiled, but Flein somehow felt like it was a prideful smile instead of a bashful one. This kind of smug expression in response to criticism made her eyebrow twitch slightly.

"I know, but I felt like being pretty today since this is the beginning of my life as a celebrity," the girl said simply, as if it was the most obvious revelation in the world.

Kirda arched an eyebrow. "A celebrity . . ?"

"Yep. My name's Rei," said the girl. "And you might want to get autographs now since I think they'll be worth a lot later." Rei said this with her eyes wide, like a car salesman pretending to give a secret deal to a naive customer.

"Right." Flein said flatly. "So let me get this straight . . _you're_ a celebrity?"

"Well, no, but . . I _will_ be a celebrity. I won't be one yet until I win the tournament prize." Rei explained, as if this were a minor detail. "Then my wish will be to become the world's most famous idol!"

Flein and Kirda stared blankly at Rei. Compared to all of the riches, skill, or land you could wish for, a wish to be a famous idol seemed minor in comparison. Then again, Flein didn't have a particular wish in mind. It was too early to consider her prize before she had even assembled a team yet.

Rei misinterpreted her new accquaintances' silence as doubt. "D- don't get me wrong, I think I could be a famous idol on my own! It would just take a lot longer, ya know?"

"_You mean, it would take more work_." Flein thought. But she brushed aside Rei's questionable motivations and instead focused on the fact that without enough team members, she could kiss her chance to fight in the tournament goodbye.

"So where's your team?" Kirda asked before Flein could.

"My team? Oh no, I'm doing this alone." Rei assured them, her head held high.

"You . . can't do that . ." Flein said slowly. "You have to have at least four other team members." How could she have come all the way here without knowing that?

"What?! But . . that's so stupid!" Rei griped, flicking her head back and then straightening her bangs back into the perfect position. "Why can't you just do it on your own? I mean, if you have the ability to take on everyone by yourself, then why do I have to bother finding other people?!"

Flein didn't think Rei was aware of how outmatched she was. No matter what her powers were, she doubted Rei could take on five high class demons in a row.

Rei sighed. "Well, it looks like I'm gonna have to find other people I guess . ." Her brown eyes stared expectantly at them once again.

Flein already knew what she wanted to ask. "Well, I think we probably all need a team, so how about we just team up together? We can try to find two other people once we reach the island." Flein said, and then turned to Kirda. "Unless you actually have a team somewhere that you haven't mentioned yet."

"Nope!" Kirda exclaimed almost proudly. "Had no idea who I was gonna be fighting with!"

"Well, I guess that settles it then." Flein said slowly, wondering if she was going to regret her decision. "By the way Rei, my name's Flein and this is Kirda-"

Rei was already walking toward the front of the boat. "Look, I can see the island!"

Flein took a deep breath. She could tell already that the next week was going to be a long one.

It was late by the time the drunken captain led the boat to the dock of Hanging Neck Island. Rei had made it known to the world multiple times that she was tired and hungry on the rest of the ride there, while Flein could tell that Kirda felt the same by looking at her drooping eyelids, although the water demon avoided repeating an already repetitive Rei. Flein on the other hand, felt fine. Night time was her most active period, and she was used to going through long periods of time without food.

Apparently, many other demons' bed times weren't until much later either. Despite the number of demons having been narrowed down to those who were fit to fight in the tournament, Hanging Neck Island still held a bustling crowd of demons of all kinds. It soon became clear that the vast majority of them were simply spectators milling around with anticipation, killing time until the tournament would start in a couple of days.

Flein, Kirda, and Rei pushed their way through the mass of demons to the stadium. The plan for the night was to hopefully come across a fighter hanging out near the stadium who needed team members. So far, all Flein was seeing were spectators and lower class demons.

"Maybe if we go near the entrance of the stadium, we'll find people waiting for teams near the area where they give out competitor applications or something." Kirda offered, her eyes almost glazed over. She had calmed down considerably since her earlier jovial mood. Nevertheless, her idea was actually the most sensible one they had, as trying to find a willing competitor among this crowd, as well as among the entire island, would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

As they approached the main information and customer service center, Flein couldn't help but overhear a loud and impatient employee telling someone, "For the last time, we're sold out of spectator tickets. There's _no more left_. I don't care if a competing team is your whole goddamn family including your dear ol' granny, it's first come first serve, miss."

Flein turned her head toward the conversation in passing curiosity, expecting just another mere squabble between half-brained demons. But she did a double take when she saw the target of the rude employee's attitude. The demon stood out to her the most because, once again, she was one of the very few females she had seen that day. Flein also noticed her easily because she had visible ears and a tail, just like herself. Except instead of a cat's tail, this girl had a large and furry purple tail, like a dog or perhaps a fox.

The girl was speaking softly to the employee now, but her voice was so quiet, Flein had to strain her ears over the noise of the crowd to hear it.

"I just . . . . because that team . . . . . competing the day after tomorrow . . . . . I-"

"Hellooooo, Flein?" Kirda's voice snapped Flein out of her concentration before she could hear anything more, and she whirled around to pay attention to her companions.

"We're thinking about making some sort of sign we can hold up that says we need teammates. Does that sound good to you?" Kirda asked, already grabbing paper and a permanent marker off of the information desk. Flein could think of a million things that could go wrong with that scenario, but it was the best shot they had of getting teammates fast. After all, she was pretty sure the deadline was today or early tomorrow.

Kirda wrote slowly and methodically on the piece of paper in clear, big letters: NEED TEAMMATES. Rei tucked her expensive dress underneath her and kneeled beside the wall. "Sooooo hungryyyyy . ." she whined for the 48th time. Flein sat on the ground beside her and observed her surroundings. With Kirda holding up the sign, and all of them being tired and hungry, Flein felt a little bit like a group of homeless people.

After about 30 minutes, Rei stopped talking completely after she realized that nobody was paying any attention to her. Her face was buried in the frills of her dress, as she maintained the kneeling position, probably in order to keep her expensive garment from touching the ground. Flein couldn't tell if she was sleeping or simply moping. Kirda shifted from foot to foot, but remained standing. Flein admired her dedication.

Before long, a huge shadow loomed over the three girls, revealing the size of the man standing before them.

"Need a team member, huh?! I wouldn't normally stoop so low as to join a bunch of women but . . if you can get me fighting and taking some heads in that tournament, I'll lend you a hand."


	5. Chapter 5: One To Go

Chapter 5: One To Go

The man was huge. His thin green T-shirt did nothing to hide his large muscles, and the cloth was so stretched it looked like it could easily rip if the man so much as flexed a bicep. His skin was the color of coffee, and his eyes practically secreted confidence.

"Name's Gaou, of Team Rokuyukai." he said, towering over Kirda. His voice was like a shovel scraping over gravel.

"Ummm, okay," Kirda mumbled, trying to recover. "We appreciate any help we can get! I guess it's not against the rules to fight for another team . . ?"

"Sure is." Gaou rasped. "But my team's got _six_ people, see. Hence Team _Roku_yukai."

Gaou waited a few seconds for Kirda to understand what he meant, but was only met with a blank stare. Rei's head snapped up. "I understood it!"

Ignoring her, Gaou continued. "Before every fight we gotta do Rock Paper Scissors in order to decide who will be the five members who get to fight. I lost out this time for the first match. Thing is, I'm not okay with that. I came here to shed blood and make a name for myself. So I'm switching to a team who's not going to boot me out of a good massacre."

Flein silently questioned if it was such a good idea to accept someone who would abandon their teammates so easily. But did they really have a choice? They only had half a day at most to find two more team members, and accepting Gaou would only leave them one more left to find.

"_Besides_," she thought, grimacing at the muscles bulging underneath Gaou's shirt. "_It'd be nice to have someone on the team who is strong and can pull their own weight_." Her gaze turned to Rei at the end of her thought, who had returned her head back into the folds of her dress.

"Okay then! Welcome to the team!" Kirda chirped with a smile, holding out her hand. Gaou's hand made Kirda's look like a dwarf's in comparison, and Flein was grateful he didn't crush it. "Now we only have one more team member left to find!"

Gaou frowned. "You still gotta find somebody else?!" He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked to the ceiling with exasperation, and at first Flein had a horrible feeling that he would change his mind and simply walk away. ". . . All right. But deadline's tomorrow afternoon, after the opening ceremonies you know. And that's _if _there are spots still open. I'd hurry up and pick someone if I were you."

He started to walk away, and Flein was about to ask where he was going, considering it was going to be impossible to find him again if they actually managed to pull off finding another teammate. Then Gaou stopped short as if remembering something, and turned around. A small, rectangular object flew at Flein's face, and she instinctively caught it with her left hand without even realizing what had happened. "Oh yeah. Here's a card key to a room at Hotel Kubikukuri, where the competitors are staying." Gaou explained. "Our team used to have two rooms, but I'm gonna try to convince them to fork over one of 'em to us for tonight."

Flein couldn't picture that conversation going well, considering Gaou had just ditched the aforementioned team. But she couldn't help but be a little grateful at his attempt to give them somewhere to stay for the night. She was no stranger to sleeping on the ground, but she was pretty sure her companions were, and Rei was already hitting her breaking point.

"Well, that went well." Kirda gave Flein a small smile before turning back to hold up the sign to the crowd, which was dwindling fast.

After a few minutes, the useless and unprepared feeling that was building up in her stomach until now was starting to become overwhelming. She stood up and scanned her eyes across the customer service/information desk, until they landed on the black and white form she was looking for. COMPETITOR APPLICATION was printed in big letters across the top, and after grabbing a pen off the desk, she went to work on doing what she could for the moment.

Her pen hovered over the blank space under TEAM NAME for a good few seconds. Then she moved onto the five blank spaces under COMPETITOR NAMES and slowly etched in her companions' and new teammate Gaou's names. She pondered briefly about whether or not she was spelling them correctly, and then wondered why it really mattered in the grand scheme of things. Just as she was finished dotting the "i" in "Rei", she looked up to find the stadium hallways almost empty except for a few seedy lizard demons in cloaks loitering around.

"_I guess even these low class demons wanna be well-rested for the fights._" Flein thought. She knew there had to be hundreds of other nocturnal demons like her here, but she had to admit that getting the body on a schedule in which it could be awake during the fighting times was probably a good idea. It couldn't have been more than 20 minutes after Goua left, but she decided they should turn in for the night and start searching early tomorrow morning. The Opening Ceremonies should be swarming with people.

"C'mon," Flein said, standing and holding up the hotel card key so Kirda could see it. "Let's go see if this room is available now." Kirda's expression was resigned and tired, and Flein knew this was more than enough for compliance. She turned around and looked at Rei, who hadn't budged. She nudged her frilly shoulder. "Come on, we're going."

Rei looked up in a daze, and mumbled, "Are we done?"

"Yes, we're done for now." Flein assured her, like a mother reassuring her child after getting a booster shot.

Hotel Kubikukuri was hard to miss. It towered among the trees that surrounded it, and at night the lights from the windows shined like a beacon. It was about a 15 minute walk through the forest from the stadium to the hotel, but at least there were clear paths to follow. Although you wouldn't know that this was a convenience if one took their sole judgement from Rei, who emmited a sulky sigh every few minutes the entire way there.

"_At least she's not talking_." Flein thought, as the glass sliding front doors of the hotel came into view.

Even if anyone _was_ talking, the view of the inside of the hotel would have made them speechless. Just the view through the glass doors looked like the mansion of a wealthy person, chandeliers glittering from the ceiling, leather couches, and Flein thought she could even see employees with black suits wandering around with platters of champagne. She wouldn't have believed this was the place they might be staying at, if the front of the building didn't have "HOTEL KUBIKUKURI" plastered on it in giant letters.

"No way! Is this really the place?!" Kirda spoke Flein's thoughts. She snatched the card key out of Flein's hand and squinted at it, as if the name on the card might have changed during their walk there. "Oh my god, it really is! Wow! We're gonna live in luxury!" Her feet were already moving quickly toward the doors, and Flein didn't want to burst her bubble by mentioning they might _not _be staying here, considering Gaou might have been torn to pieces after even suggesting they have a room. Kirda looked simply too excited for the first time in hours.

Rei's head finally turned up from her white buckled shoes, which were now slightly muddy from the walk.

"_I'm sure she was thinking about that the entire way here._" Flein thought. If she was, the shoes were long forgotten when Rei spotted the inside of the hotel, as Kirda scurried through the front doors.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Is this where we're staying?!"

"I guess so" Flein shrugged in defeat, realizing that raining on her parade was only going to result in annoyance for herself in the end.

"YESSS!" Rei hissed, her mopey walk turning into a mad dash to the hotel. Flein followed at her own pace, looking back at the forest behind them. She realized that the stadium wasn't visible at all from here, and made a mental note on which direction to take to get there tomorrow morning. They couldn't afford to lose any time.

Inside the hotel, she quickly tried to spot Kirda and Rei in the lobby so she wouldn't lose them. Kirda stood unmoving in the center of the room, her head swiveling frantically as she tried to take in her fancy surroundings. Waiters in black suits and slicked back hair dodged her as they made their way to customers, platters balancing on their hand. Flein couldn't blame her for being in awe. Flein herself had never been anywhere like this in her entire life. Somehow the environment made her reluctant to touch anything.

Rei, on the other hand, was grabbing handfuls of chocolates and other tiny foods from the counter, stuffing them in her dress pockets or simply directly in her mouth. Flein shook her head, and her view came across the familiar person sitting on the couch.

She had seen this demon before. Where had she seen her? Her eyes landed on the fluffly purple tail.

Ah yes, that's where she had seen her. This was the girl who was talking to the exasperated employee earlier. The girl who couldn't get tickets. Her blue eyes were scanning the room, signs of anxiety displayed all over her face, from the upturned eyebrows to the frown under her nose. Flein wondered if she had no place to stay tonight, considering she wasn't a competitor and she couldn't even get spectator tickets. But since it seemed like she was looking for someone, perhaps she was waiting for a roommate of some sort. Flein didn't like to bother strangers unnecessarily, and adding the fact that it made her uncomfortable, she tried to avoid doing this as much as possible.

At that moment, the demon girl's eyes met hers, and Flein quickly averted her gaze to the floor. For some reason it made her feel awkward to let her know that she had been staring at her.

"FLEIN, hurry up!" Rei's voice snapped through the air like a whip, and Flein's ears twitched in annoyance. Kirda was holding the elevator door open, and Rei was waiting inside, her arms crossed and her white buckled shoe tapping the floor.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Flein called, before muttering under her breath, "Geez, so impatient."


	6. Chapter 6: Team Rokuyukai

Chapter 6: Team Rokuyukai

Flein's feet padded across the hotel hallway's floors as they made their way toward room 406. She liked the sound of the carpet underneath her feet. Already this seemed like a luxury too good to be true.

Just as they were reaching a T junction, Flein stopped when she heard heated yelling a few feet past the corner on the right. Until this point, she had thought it was simply someone's TV playing far too loud, but her mind changed when she heard Gaou's voice pleading "But it's only for one night!"

"Uh oh" Kirda whispered, stopping beside Flein. Rei kept on walking obliviously, and Kirda had to grab her by the arm and yank her back.

"Are you forgetting that you are our _enemy_ now, Gaou?" said an unknown voice, smooth as silk. "I should kill you right here and now for deserting our team."

"T-that's not necessary . ." Gaou stuttered, his once confident tone gone in a heartbeat. "Just give us the other room, and we'll be outta your hair . . H-hell, I'm sure Chu won't even be needing the room! He'll probably be passed out in a corner somewhere tonight, heh heh . ."

Gaou's jokes were not winning over the cold stranger. "You come crawling back with the nerve to ask for what is ours . ." A bright, orange light shone from behind the corner, and the hallway suddenly got ten degrees hotter. "You don't deserve to even stand in the presence of a Team Rokuyukai member. Burn in hell!"

Flein and Kirda started running simultaneously, Kirda launching herself around the corner and throwing a splash of cold water in the direction of the voice. There was a guttural moan and a loud hissing noise, as a pale, blonde-haired man hit the floor. Gaou stood looking at his former teammate in shock, his mouth hanging open.

"We're not losing a teammate before this tournament even begins!" Flein said, glaring into the angry eyes of the man laying on the floor.

"How DARE you, you-" he began, his small slit eyes widening, before quickly returning to normal. He composed himself with some difficulty and stood up, retaining his cool demeanor. "Heh. So _this _is your new team, Gaou? How pathetic. I always knew you belonged with a bunch of women."

"I like how you call us pathetic when I'm the one who just laid you out on the floor" Kirda retorted, a smile trying to escape her lips. "If you give us the room, I promise I won't do it again."

The man's composure was slipping away already. "Don't patronize me, you wench, I'll-"

The door beside them creaked open, and a short, blue-skinned man peeked out and hissed, "Did you kill the bastard yet, Zeru?" Several sharp, pointy teeth lined his mouth and he looked like the most vile of the D Class demons.

"Go away, Roto." the man named Zeru retorted without his eyes leaving Kirda.

Roto already wasn't listening. "Haha! My my my, what do we have here?" he hissed, his malicious smile spreading across his face. "Look at all of the whores our friend Gaou brought us! If this is your idea of making it up to us, I'm not complaining . ." He licked his lips and looked at Rei, who was peeking around the corner. She made a strange sound like a mixture between a squeak and a whimper and disappeared from view.

Flein and Kirda shook with anger. "We're not-"

"Those are my _teammates_!" Gaou piped up, and then seemed to immediately regret it when Roto turned his beady little eyes to him. "W-we just need a place to stay for the night." Flein was starting to wonder if Gaou was a masochist or simply stupid. At this point, it was obvious that they weren't going to get the room without a fight, and Flein wasn't sure if it was worth it.

Roto's smile spread wider, which had seemed impossible beforehand, and chuckled as if Gaou had said a side-splitting joke. "That's _funny_, Gaou! What you really mean is, you're upset and now you're going to comfort yourself by having all three of these whores at once in the hotel room, am I right?"

The thought of this actually happening made Flein feel like throwing up.

"Come now Gaou, my dear old friend, you must not keep them all to yourself! At least give me the one in the dress, she looks like she'll be the type who will call me _daddy_." Roto slurped.

"That's enough, Roto. Go back inside. _Now_." Zeru ordered. Roto ducked his head like a kicked puppy and slinked back into the hotel room. "Now. Which one of you wants to die first? This will be a nice little warm-up before the tournament begins."

"Just give us the room or I'll kick your ass!" Kirda threatened, clenching her fists. She must have been hungry, because she was certainly wasn't kidding around. Of course, it didn't help that she had been called whore a couple times in the last few minutes.

"Heh. For hitting me earlier, I'll make your death a slow one." Zeru smiled, and ignited into flames. Gaou made a strange croaking sound and backed against the wall, mouth permanently hanging open.

"Well if you want it that way, fine!" Flein said, flexing her claws. She would enjoy killing this douchebag. Icing on the cake would be if that slimey demon Roto joined the fight, so she could knock him out too.

"Heeeeyyyy, you blokes havin' a party without ya leader?!"

Flein smelled him before she saw him. The smell of strong alcohol filled her nostrils, and for a minute she felt like gagging.

The tallest man she had ever seen stumbled around the corner, a bottle of vodka in his hand, and he reeked so much of alcohol Flein was surprised he was still alive.

"Oooooo who are these sheilas?!" the man slurred, his blue mohawk almost touching the ceiling. "This one's got ears, she does! Look at 'em!" He yanked on Flein's ear, before she slapped his gigantic hand away.

"Don't do that." Flein said, rubbing her ear which would be throbbing for a while. The man just laughed loudly, before a belch interrupted him.

"Chu, these women are Gaou's _teammates_." Zeru said with venom. Even he had to look up to meet his leader's eyes. "Gaou came to ask us if they could use our second room." He turned to smile at Flein and Kirda, as if to say "Now you're going to get it."

"Gaou?! Where is he?! Imma tear his head off, the bastard!" Chu suddenly roared, stumbling in the opposite direction. Gaou was already nowhere to be found.

"He must have run off again, the coward . ." Zeru spit. He looked throughly disappointed he couldn't roast Gaou himself.

"When I get my hands on 'em, I'll wring his neck!" Chu yelled to no one before taking another swig from his bottle. "If there's somethin' I hate more than bad drink, it's stinkin' cowards and abandoners!" He suddenly sat cross-legged in the middle of the hallway and slammed his drink on the ground, sloshing vodka everywhere. Rei, who was crouching hidden in the corner, scrunched her dress up in her hands as if some of the alcohol would teleport to her and stain it.

Zeru turned to Flein and Kirda and gave them a menacing smile. "Do you still wish to die in pursuit of this room or follow your dear coward teammate?" he asked, already preparing to warm up again. "Although, I did promise you a painful death." He wasn't the type to forgive easily.

Chu belched loudly and staggered over to Zeru, wrapping his gigantic arm around his shoulders. "You givin' these sheilas a hard time, Zeru?! This is why I always tell ya you're not good with the ladies!" Chu erupted into laughter as Zeru frowned in annoyance.

"Female or not, the room won't belong to them." Zeru said stubbornly, never looking away from the girls. "Not as long as I'm around."

"Just give the bloody room to the ladies!" Chu said, slapping Zeru on the back, almost knocking him over. "I could use some women around! Ain't that right, sheila?!" He reached to grab Kirda's braid before she flicked it away from him, smiling. Despite his obnoxious behavior, he was hard to dislike. "Or . ." he turned slowly to Zeru, suddenly very serious. The contrast to his previous behavior was almost frightening. ". . I could make sure you're _not_ around. Ain't that the deal?" Zeru's eyes widened, a drop of sweat rolling down the side of his cheek. He didn't say a word.

"Right then, it's all settled!" Chu said, back to his usual self. His sudden creepy soberness was like a short dream. "But don' be surprised if I walk right into your room, I sometimes mix the two, see?"

"I'm sure they're very similar." Kirda said, humoring him. Having Chu around now was like holding a puppy in a bad storm. He somehow effortlessly lifted the mood.

"But if I see that coward Gaou around, he's dead meat! Ya hear me?!" Chu yelled, holding up his thumb and scraping it laterally across his neck. He stood up straight with his fists on his hips, his hair scraping the loose paint off the ceiling. "That bastard has it comin' to him! When I find him, I'm gonna . . I'm gonna . ."

His plummet to the floor was like a tall tree in a forest being cut down, and Flein had the urge to shout "TIMBER!" He landed with a huge THUD! on the carpet, with an expression of a content, sleeping baby. Drool trickled down the side of his mouth and mixed with the unshaven hair of his chin.

"Well, that's where he'll be sleeping tonight." Zeru said, turning and opening his hotel room door. He glanced back at Kirda and Flein, a look of absolute contempt in his eyes. "You were lucky." The door clicked behind him and suddenly the hallway was quiet.


	7. Chapter 7: Left Unfinished

Chapter 7: Left Unfinished

The room was much bigger than they thought it would be. In fact, it was _two_ rooms instead of one: One was a sitting area with a table, three sofas, a TV, and a large window covering the north wall. Another was a simple bedroom with three beds.

"I guess they expect some team members to sleep on the couch." Kirda said, looking at the number of beds. She then grimaced as she picked up a dirty beer can off the floor with her pointer finger and thumb. "And it looks like Chu has been in here recently."

Flein had to remind herself that this room might have contained Team Rokuyukai's members moments before. She looked around for anything they might have left behind.

As Flein opened the drawers under the TV one by one, Rei collapsed onto one of the couches and took a small compact from one of the pockets of her dress. She clicked it open and carefully adjusted her bangs. Kirda was already placing the trash can in the middle of the living room and discarding all cans and bottles into it.

Just as Flein turned to check the closet, Rei emitted a loud shriek that made her jump 3 feet into the air.

"GOD" she said, her ears pulled tightly to her head. She turned to Rei, who was cowering on the couch with her knees up to her chest, looking at the bedroom door. "What is it?!"

"I just saw the door move!" Rei said, eyes wide. "I was looking in my mirror and behind me I saw the door move by itself!"

Flein rolled her eyes and exchanged a look with Kirda. "It was probably just the door swinging after Kirda moved it." Flein explained, turning back to the closet.

"No, it doesn't feel right!" Rei said stubbornly. "I know it sounds weird, but I can sense ghosts, okay? And I feel like that was a ghost."

Flein had to resist sighing audibly. She had had too long of a day for this. She ignored Rei and stood on her tip toes to scan the top shelf of the closet. So far everything seemed empty.

"Fine, I'll go check" Flein heard Kirda say.

"Oh, you won't be able to see the ghost" Rei assured her. "I mean, I might be able to see it but unless you have a sixth sense . ." Kirda said nothing and continued walking to the bedroom door.

This time it was Kirda who shrieked. Flein bumped her head on the top shelf of the closet as she jumped for the second time. "Owwww . ." she groaned, rubbing her head.

"Surprise! Scared ya, didn't I?"

Flein whirled around as she heard a . . child's voice?

Kirda backed out of the bedroom, as a small boy with a red and yellow striped cap on his head followed her, a huge smug grin on his face.

"_Was he in here the whole time_?" Flein thought, staring at the brown-haired kid across the room. "_It's weird that I didn't hear him budge . _."

"I know Chu likes the ladies, but I didn't think I would be seeing so many tonight! Heh heh" he snickered. "Hope he wasn't too embarrassing."

"Team Rokuyukai brought a child with them?" questioned Flein, trying to make sense of the situation. "Are you . . Chu's son?"

"NO! Are you kidding me?!" the boy shouted, crossing his arms. "Why would I be that drunken idiot's son?! No, I'm Rinku, of Team Rokuyukai!"

"Wait, so let me get this straight." Kirda said, holding up her hands. "You're a . . fighter?"

"Of course!" he grinned, reaching into the pouch strapped around his shoulders and pulling out a bright yellow yo-yo. "What else would I be?" He twirled the yo-yo by its string effortlessly, obviously showing off.

"Well, it's just . . you seem kinda . . young." Kirda approached the topic carefully.

"Young? I'm 237 years old!" Rinku spat, flicking his wrist and returning the yo-yo to his hand.

"Wow . . "Rei said in awe, but Flein arched an eyebrow.

"That's still young." she said.

"Ugh!" Rinku groaned, turning his back to them and putting his hands behind his head. "What do you know anyway? You're just some people Chu found somewhere."

"Actually," Flein said. "We're fighters too. And your friend Chu let us stay in this room for the night."

"Huh?" Rinku said, turning his head to look at her. "Geez, when was he ever going to tell me?"

"Well, to be fair, he is passed out in the hallway right now." Kirda said laughingly.

"Oh man, not again . . I better get him up." Rinku said, heading out the door . "No telling who will come along and see him . . See ya!"

"Bye" the girls muttered half-heartedly, Flein shutting the door behind him. She turned to Rei and arched an eyebrow. "Ghost?"

"Heh heh . . guess not . ." Rei said, sweat dripping down her head.

Flein shook her head and took a folded up piece of paper out of her pocket and started to straighten it. "Okay. Now after we make sure there's _nobody left in this room _. . " she said loudly to the walls, daring anyone to come out. The room was silent. ". . . we need to work on filling this out."

She laid the unfinished application form out on the table, straightening the edges and grabbing a pen that was sitting beside the TV. She sat cross-legged on the ground in front of it, and looked at Kirda and Rei. "Team name?"

"Ummmmm" Kirda and Rei hummed simultaneously.

"How about we name it after the team leader?" Kirda said, smiling and staring pointedly at Flein.

"Me? I'm not . . plus 'Team Flein' doesn't exactly-"

"Well then it would be named after me then!" Rei interrupted. "'Team Rei'? Does that sound weird? My name can mean 'spirit' too, maybe it can mean we have a lot of spirit!"

Flein and Kirda gaped at her. They knew she wasn't exactly the brightest among them, but she had to be joking this time. Sadly, it didn't look like she was.

"Well that's fine and all but . ." Kirda said gently. "What makes you think you're the leader?"

"Well, I'm the one who's going to have a wish fulfilled right?" Rei said. "And in the future, when people look back on how I became a celebrity, I want them to know I led the team."

Before Kirda could attempt to bring her back to reality, Flein interjected. "Forget about using our names for now. Let's try to think of something that describes our team as a whole."

The three girls sat in silent thought for a while. "How about Team Princess? Because we're girls. And it's cute!" Rei said, proud of herself.

"Gaou's still part of our team ya know . ." Flein said, sighing. She wished there was a polite way to shove Rei out of the room and ponder with Kirda alone.

As if on cue, the door handle turned slowly and Gaou tiptoed silently into the room, trying not to make a noise as if his life depended on it.

"Is Chu still out there?" Kirda asked, amused.

"No, but I don't want any of them to hear me . ." Gaou said, breathing a sigh of relief after he shut the door behind him. He looked at the application on the table. "What are you guys doing?"

"Trying to come up with a team name." Flein responded, hoping he wouldn't try to include any "Team Gaou" suggestions. She could hold her own in an argument but she didn't want to cause conflict with her new teammate so soon.

"Pffft. Don't ask me." he sighed, plopping on the couch beside Rei and putting his feet up on the table. His legs were so big it was a wonder the table didn't crack under his weight. Rei subtly scooted away from him.

Flein folded up the application form in defeat and stuck it back in her pocket. It was no use thinking of any team names now that they were so tired. They still had time tomorrow to think of something- maybe their new team member would have an idea. If they found one, anyway.

She decided it'd be best for them to all get some rest, considering they had to get up early tomorrow and she had a funny feeling that with Gaou here, things would be getting awkward soon. She had nothing against the guy- after all, he stuck up for them against Zeru, and that was more than she expected of him. But he was a rather large male who would be sharing a room with them for at least a few days. Barriers would have to be drawn early. "There are three beds in the bedroom; will you be sleeping on the couch?" she asked hesitantly.

"_Please say yes_." she thought. "_Please_."

"Sure, why not? It doesn't matter to me where I sleep." he grunted, looking like he was going to lay out on the couch and conk out right there on Rei's lap. Rei jumped off the couch as if she were thinking it too, and headed toward the bedroom as soon as the matter was settled.

"All right then. G'night." Flein said, heading into the bedroom, Kirda following and shutting the door behind her. Flein slipped off her shorts and crawled under the white cotton sheets, trying not to think that someone like Chu or even- ugh- _Roto_ had slept in this bed before. She cracked one eye open to look at Rei beside her, who was digging through a medium-sized bag and pulling out clothes. Flein hadn't even noticed she had a bag with her- and after looking at the bag, she could see why. It was color-coded to match perfectly with her dress.

Rei slipped off her red dress, folded it very carefully, and put it inside the bag. Then she yanked out an old T-shirt and a pair of sweats and pulled them on, before taking off her ribbon and tying her hair up in a messy bun.

"_Wow_." Flein thought, her eyes drooping a little more. "_Now she looks like a totally different person._"

Rei then pulled out another frilly dress- this time an off-white color with a teddy bear pattern- and laid it out on the chair beside the door, presumably set out for the next day.

"_I can't believe this person . . how many dresses does she have . _." Flein thought, her body slowly relaxing.

Rei sat on the bed, putting everything away except for one small patterned bag. The bag resting in her left hand, Rei opened up the bag with her right and stuck her fingers inside. It couldn't be anything else other than a small change bag, but when Rei took her fingers back out, they were covered with a strange silver powder. She lifted her fingers to the nape of her neck and started rubbing the powder on her skin, on her collarbone, on her chest.

"_What is that . . ?_" Flein thought, half in sleep and half out of it. "_That's weird . ._"The last thing Flein remembered was the sound of Kirda setting the alarm and flicking off the light before she fell into a deep slumber.


	8. Chapter 8: Running Out of Time

Chapter 8: Running Out of Time

_"There she is. The child with the __**demon**__ blood."_

_ "She was even a curse upon her own wretched mother."_

_ "I knew as soon as King Enma chose the demon woman, it could only turn out badly for him, for everyone!"_

_ "What was he thinking, tainting our world with their vile blood? At this point the only option is to eliminate her existence entirely."_

_ Her father towered over her, taller than the sun. Shadows crept over his face as he looked down at her with a mixture of resentment and regret. "__**Why did you have to be born?**__"_

_ The ground underneath her vanished, and she was falling, falling, falling . . ._

The sound of the alarm clock sounded like screaming at first, and Flein wasn't sure if it was her own scream or someone else's. Her eyes wrenched open wide, and her body vibrated from her fast heartbeat. In her half-awakened state, she thought she was seeing a hospital bed, with someone squirming underneath the covers . .

Kirda poked her head out from underneath the blanket, her eyes squinting at the line of bright light that had squeezed its way in through the crack in the curtains. She reached one shaky hand out and stopped the screaming, letting her arm fall back down on the bed.

Morning. It didn't feel as good as Flein thought it would feel. It never did. All she wanted to do was curl up underneath the covers. Maybe try this sleeping thing out again, this time without any scary flashback dreams.

Yesterday was slowly coming back to her, piece by piece. The boat. Hanging Neck Island. Gaou. The hotel. Zeru, Roto, Chu, Rinku.

The opening ceremonies. Flein shot up in bed, panic gripping her like an icy hand. They had to find their last teammate within the next few hours. _Had _to. Yesterday this didn't seem like a big deal to her, probably because they had already done so much. Now it seemed like time was running out. Flein wondered if she'd be on a boat back home by the end of the day.

She almost tumbled out of bed, yanking on her denim shorts. Kirda sat up in the bed next to her, stretching. "Morning." Her eyes were already bright. She turned to look at Rei, who was sleeping on her back and hadn't budged at all. "Reeeeiii~ Time to get up~" Kirda called. Rei only groaned and twitched her arm. Kirda got out of bed, wearing a more wrinkled version of what she wore yesterday. Flein thought that probably the both of them didn't really have any alternate clothes, unlike Rei. Flein glanced at the bathroom door, which was left open sometime during the night. It occurred to her that none of them even had a chance to shower. No time for that now.

Rei groaned again, this time louder. Kirda was shaking her arm persistently until she finally opened her eyes and sat up. "Good morning." Kirda said, smiling.

As Flein was combing her fingers through her hair, she stopped when she heard loud snoring in the next room. "_Gaou_." she thought, grateful that he didn't choose to sleep in the bedroom last night. She wondered if Kirda would be willing to wake him up too.

She opened the door to the sitting room area to find Gaou gone completely.

"_What?_" she thought, walking toward the couch Gaou had been sleeping on. "_Then who_-" Her leg caught on something furry, and she fell over head first, bracing herself from hitting the floor with her arms. "_An animal?!_" She whirled her head around to look at what had tripped her, and sighed. It was just Chu. The fur was simply the fur lining on the bottom of his pants.

He was snoring loudly, a bottle of whiskey still locked in his right hand. Kirda peeked out from the bedroom and couldn't help laughing. "Guess he mixed up the two rooms after all."

Even though the guy probably didn't mean anything by it, Flein was slightly grateful. She didn't know what members of Team Rokuyukai had a card key to their room, and she didn't want Zeru or Roto to get any funny ideas while they were sleeping. Chu was laid out in front of their bedroom door, practically their guard dog. Of course, Gaou probably scurried out as soon as Chu hit the floor.

"Helloooooo~ Sleepy head~" Kirda cooed, poking Chu's green-lined cheek. "It's almost opening ceremonies~" He snorted suddenly and woke up, looking at Kirda with confusion before throwing his muscular arm around her and pulling her to his chest.

"SHEILA!" he roared, Kirda's cheek smushed against his black shirt. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?!"

"Only since yesterday!" Kirda mumbled good-naturedly, prying herself from his grasp.

"Here, have a drink!" he slurred, shoving the whiskey bottle to Kirda's lips, which she kindly pushed away.

"No thanks! It's too early for that!" she assured him. "Are you coming with us to the opening ceremonies?"

"Too EARLY?! Sheila, it's never too early for a drink!" he protested, lifting the whiskey bottle to her lips again. Her last question didn't even seem to have entered his thoughts.

Kirda shrugged with resignation. "All right, just a sip!" She took the whiskey bottle and drank almost a quarter of what was left with one swig, setting it back down with a sigh. The stuff didn't even seem to affect her at all.

"That was more than just a sip!" Flein said, putting on her shoes.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' ABOUT!" Chu roared, wrapping his arm around Kirda's neck again and tussling her hair. "This one's all right, she is! I _like_ a lady who can hold her alcohol!" He belched, then quickly brought his hand to his mouth. "Grrgh . . speakin' a holdin' yer alcohol . ." He stood up suddenly and ran to the bathroom, almost toppling over Rei in the process. The resulting retching noises from the bathroom caused her to make a disgusted face.

Kirda smiled and smoothed down her hair. "I'm glad we'll have our own room after today . ." she said. ". . because I'm not cleaning that up."

Flein looked at the clock on the wall, her stomach doing flip flops. "We have to hurry." She peeked into the bedroom, making sure to avoid looking at Chu coughing up his drink, and evaluated Rei's progress. She was brushing her hair and making sure her ribbon was in the perfect position on her head. "Hurry up, we're leaving."

"Just a second." Rei said, smoothing out her dress.

"Do whatever you have to do on the way there." Flein ordered, heading towards the door.

"What about Chu?" Kirda asked, putting on her shoes. Gross noises still echoed from the bathroom.

"Leave him." Flein said, about to command Rei to hurry up again before she finally ended up leaving the room and putting on her shiny white shoes. "Oh and make sure we have everything. We won't be coming back here."

The walk back to the stadium seemed shorter than the walk they took to the hotel yesterday. Or maybe that was because Flein was subconsciously walking faster. Kirda kept pace with her, Rei trailing behind.

"Why are you going so fast?" she whined, her eyes constantly on the ground, on the look out for any substance that could dirty her shoes.

"Because we only have so much time left to find our last teammate." Flein replied, almost blinded by the sun after they left the forested area and arrived on the stadium grounds. The place was bursting at the seams with people again. Flein did not miss this.

"Things will go faster if we split up . ." she mumbled to herself, surveying the area. She turned to her companions. "How about Rei look outside, Kirda check the stadium corridors, and I'll search in the spectator area? Then we'll all meet up again at the customer service desk about a half hour before opening ceremony with anyone we found."

"What if all of us find someone?" Rei asked the obligatory question.

"Then we choose which one we like the most, and another can be an alternate." Flein said simply. She wasn't a cold person, but they couldn't afford to avoid hurting people's feelings right now. "Okay. _Remember_. 2 hours and 30 minutes from now. Customer service desk." she said, staring fiercely at Rei.

"Why are you looking at _me_ like that for?" she whined.

"_Because you're the most likely to fuck something up_." Flein thought, but said "Never mind. See you guys soon." and headed toward the center of the stadium building. Time to check out the arena that she'll be fighting on.


	9. Chapter 9: Anji

Chapter 9: Anji

The arena was immense. It never looked that big on pictures and brochures, but when one is actually standing on the top row of seats, the fighting platform looked light years away. Flein wondered what it would be like to be standing on the platform. She hoped she would be able to find out tomorrow.

Floating in the middle of the stadium, above the fighting platform, was a gigantic ball. It was being help up by thick cords tied to each side of the roof of the stadium. Flein hoped that that thing wasn't able to light up, and the opening ceremony wasn't just some elaborate disco party. Spaced out evenly around the stadium walls hung four large signs reading "Welcome To The Dark Tournament" in big, red letters.

Flein shook her head. She was getting distracted. Her eyes touched upon every corner of the arena, but it was mostly empty besides a few people making final adjustments to the banners and streamers hanging on the walls. Demons weren't punctual creatures. It was likely nobody thought to come this early to get a good seat.

Her stomach growled loudly. Food would sound like a good idea right about now, if it weren't for the feeling that it would be wasting valueable time. Flein couldn't remember the last time she ate. Yesterday was advantageous for her, considering she had simply been too busy to feel hungry.

Giving up on the stadium seats for now, Flein walked into the opening of the corridor just beside it. The smell of hot dogs or some other meaty substance wafted under her nose, and she almost drooled.

"_No, I have to keep looking_." she thought, but her feet were already heading towards the greasy smell. "_Okay, maybe just a peek. Just to see what it is_." She knew she was lying to herself. Once she saw it, she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about food all day. On top of that, she didn't have any money.

Her feet walked faster around the corner, and just as a food stand came into her line of vision, she collided with someone and almost toppled back onto the floor. The stranger made a short yelping noise and almost fell to the ground as well.

"_Dammit_." Flein thought. "_How could I be so good at fighting but be so randomly clumsy in the worst situations?_" Now she would have to apologize, and hope the other person wasn't a bullheaded demon who wouldn't let it go.

"S-sorry . ." Flein muttered, but then almost gasped as the person in front of her looked up and earnestly said "Sorry!" as well.

It was the girl. The one she kept seeing everywhere. The one with the bushy purple tail. Although now that she saw her up close, the purple of her hair and ears stood out even more.

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed, looking down at her feet. Some items had fallen out of her bag when they bumped into each other, and the girl bent down and started to pick them up. Flein felt obligated to help her, and hastily helped her pick up a wallet, a Dark Tournament brochure, and a silver necklace. Flein thought she took the necklace out of her hand a little too fast.

"Thank you." she said anyway, looking up at Flein's face. Her eyes met Flein's, and then started to drift up to her cat ears. Flein was used to it. In fact, she was already impressed that the girl at least made eye contact first before staring at her ears.

"Ah . . Ahhh!" the girl yelped, attempting to stand up but then tripping over the strap of her own purse and landing on her butt. She was lucky she was wearing black leggings under her plaid skirt that day, unless she wanted to reveal what was underneath.

"What's wrong?!" Flein stood up, thoroughly confused. Only humans reacted like this, and even then, most of them assumed her ears were fake in the first place.

"I can't believe I didn't notice it in the hotel . . you're one of _them_!" the girl said, attempting to cover her canine ears with her hands. It was a little too late for that.

"One of _them_?" Flein repeated, arching her eyebrow. She didn't like where this was going. Did she not like cats or something?

"Yeah! You . . you _are_ a cat demon, right?" the girl said, pointing at Flein's ears. She had seemed so sure of herself before, and now she just looked as confused as Flein.

"Yesssssss . ." Flein said slowly. "And what's wrong with that?"

The other demon girl finally got back on her feet. "What do you mean, 'what's wrong'? You don't care that I'm a wolf demon?" she said, pointing at her own ears almost accusingly. She was still slowly backing away from Flein, as if Flein would just now realize what she was and would change her mind and start attacking her.

So that's what she was. A wolf demon. She thought she got pretty close with guessing that she was a fox demon, but she knew she shouldn't ever tell _them_ that they were hard to tell apart. "Why should I care that you're a wolf demon?" Flein asked.

"Um, because, well . . your people attack our people all the time . ." the girl mumbled, looking away. "Oh but um, our people attack yours sometimes too . ." she added as an afterthought, as if apologizing for her first sentence.

"My people? I don't have a 'people'." Flein explained with an amused smile. "In fact I don't think I've ever personally known another cat demon in my whole life. Although now that I think about it, it would be interesting to meet one . ." She didn't know if she would like another cat demon or not, especially now since this stranger thought Flein was going to attack her.

"What?! But that's . . ." the girl squinted her eyes and looked at the ground, the gears turning in her head. "Wait a minute! Were you abandoned by your family or something?"

Flein tilted her head to the side and smiled. "You could say that, I guess."

"Oh . . I'm sorry . ." the girl apologized, seeming to regret just outright asking such a personal question. "No matter what you are, it would be sad to not have a family . ."

"It's okay." Flein assured her. "Don't think of me as just a cat demon. I'm just Flein. And . . . you are?" It was probably the smoothest transition into an introduction that Flein had ever given.

The wolf demon smiled. "I'm Anji." She realized she was still holding the wallet, brochure, and necklace in her hands, and quickly stuffed them into her black purse. Flein eyed her wallet hungrily.

"_Don't. Don't ask her to pay for food. You just met her. Don't_." Flein told herself, turning her gaze to the food stand. Her stomach growled dangerously loud. Anji followed her gaze behind her to the food stand and turned back to Flein.

"Are you hungry?" she asked.

"A little . ." Flein lied. It was more like she was starving.

"I was about to go get something to eat before I bumped into you . ." Anji explained. "Would you like to join me?"

"I would really like to but I don't have any money on me . ." Flein said, embarrassed. She would kill to have some of the leftover funds that Rei seems to waste on dresses right about now.

Anji smiled and held up her wallet. "Don't worry about it."

If Flein wasn't so introverted with new people, she surely would have hugged her right now.

"So what brings you here?" Flein asked, her mouth full of hot dog. She had ordered the smallest, cheapest kind with no toppings, so she wouldn't have to inconvenience her new friend. Still, it tasted divine on an empty stomach.

"Well . ." Anji began, after swallowing her bite. "I came here to look for someone."

"Ah." Flein said. She didn't know if she should dig deeper. After getting their food, they had sat on the empty seats of the stadium, which was still mostly empty. They had a good view of the giant, mysterious ball that was hanging above the fighting platform.

"He's a good friend from my village." Anji continued anyway after a momentary silence. "He's . . one of my best friends, actually. And well, after he left to go fight for our village, I realized it might be the last time I see him . . because you know, I heard people die in these tournaments . ." She stopped her story and looked at Flein as if asking for confirmation.

"Uh huh." Flein said, licking her fingers. Of course people die. You just have to make sure it's not you.

"Sooo . ." she continued. "Suddenly, I decided to come here and . . support him!" She shrugged bashfully, as if it were a stupid idea.

"That's understandable . ." Flein assured her. "So . . he's a fighter?"

"Yep!" Anji said proudly. "The whole team is from my village. Our goal, if our team wins the tournament, is to wish for our own big piece of land far away from the cat demons, so that we never have to fight each other for territory every again."

Flein finished her last piece of hot dog, and looked at her companion. "That's a good cause. In that case . . I hope I don't have to fight that team."

Anji stopped chewing. "You're . . you're a fighter too?"

"Yep. Well, I will be. Hopefully." Flein said, scratching her head. "We just need one more team member." Flein looked around for a clock anywhere, and couldn't find one. "I just hope that I'm not running out of time to find one. If I can't find one, then I'll have to go back home . ."

"Oh, I see . ." Anji said sympathetically. "To be completely honest, I'm kinda in a jam myself. I wanted to be a spectator in this tournament, so I could always keep an eye on my team and support them . . But all of the spectator tickets are sold out . . So all I can hope to do is try to catch him walking around somewhere . ." She sighed, crinkling up the greasy hot dog paper in her hands. "I'm starting to lose hope."

Flein remembered Anji then, arguing with the employee about sold out tickets. Then, suddenly an idea clicked in her mind. "Hey, why don't you join my team?!" Flein asked. "Then not only could you watch the fights, but you could stay in the same hotel he's staying in, maybe even go down into the area where he's preparing to fight . . you'll have a lot more freedom. And we'll have our last member!"

Anji frowned. This was not the response Flein was hoping for. "Oh, but . . I can't do that . ." she said.

"Why not?" Flein asked.

"Because well . . I don't fight."

Flein's heart plummeted. She could see her last chance, slipping away. There it was, right in front of her, but she couldn't grasp it. Flein wanted to respect her choice not to fight, but at the same time wanted to start shaking her and shout "WHY NOT?"

"Oh . . that's okay then . ." Flein said reluctantly.

"I'm sorry . ." Anji mumbled, realizing she let her new friend down.

"It's okay . . but . ." Flein said, trying to hide her disappointment. "I'm sure it's almost time to meet my other teammates and see if they found anyone we could use. It could still be okay. Don't worry about it."

"All right . . well . . I wish you all the luck!" Anji said, forcing a smile.

"Thank you. It was nice meeting you!" Flein said, standing up. "Thanks for the food." She walked towards the customer service desk, leaving Anji sitting on the stadium seats behind her. She knew it would be the last time she would ever see her, and she tried not to think of the possibilities that could have happened.

Flein was the first one to arrive at the meeting place. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She glanced at the clock behind the counter.

"_Good, I'm 10 minutes early . _." she thought. "_There could still be a chance they'll arrive with somebody . ._"

A few minutes later, she saw Kirda walking toward her in the distance with someone behind her. Flein's heart lifted. "_She found someone. Yes!_" she thought, waving her over. As Kirda got closer and closer to Flein, she noticed the person was quite large, with muscles stretching through a thin T-shirt. Oh no.

It was only Gaou.

"Well, does finding our other teammate count?" Kirda said, smiling.

"_How could she be so chipper at a time like this . ._" Flein thought anxiously. "_Please Rei, please pull through_."

Just as their arranged meeting time arrived, Rei came at the last minute with . . . food. She was shoving popcorn into her mouth, and stood beside Flein and asked, "Did you find someone?" as if she couldn't see it herself.

"No . ." Flein responded, kicking herself for having thought she could rely on Rei.

"Crap." Rei simply said, shoving another handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"So that's it then . . we can't fight . ." Kirda said, finally losing her happy-go-lucky attitude. "So . . do we just go home then?"

"I don't know . ." Flein responded, her heart heavy. She felt angry that they would have to give up after all that they've done already.

Just as she was about to suggest going to get a strong drink with Chu, she heard a "Wait!" behind her. Flein turned to face the familiar voice behind her, and found Anji running towards her, hand up in the air.

"Flein! Wait!" she yelled, and skidded to a stop in front of her, trying to catch her breath. "I'll do it. I'll join your team."

"What?! But I thought you said you couldn't fight . ." Flein said, not wanting to jinx it but also wanting to know why she had a sudden change of heart.

"I said that I _don't_ fight, not that I _couldn't_ fight. It's just that I don't normally like to." Anji explained. "But this time . . I have a good reason!"

This time, Flein did hug her. "Yes! We can join the tournament now!" The group of five erupted into cheer, Kirda joining in on the hug.

"I don't know you, but welcome to the team!" she said jovially. Anji just smiled, looking at the friendly strangers around her.

Flein whirled around and unfolded the piece of paper on the desk behind her, grabbing the nearest pen and scribbling "ANJI" in sloppy letters on the last team member space. "We would like to join the Dark Tournament, please!" she told the nearest employee behind the desk.

"All right then." said the female demon politely. "Oh, but you need to fill in your team name . ."

"Oh yeah, that's right . ." Flein said. She couldn't believe she forgot. It didn't really seem important now that they just barely managed to scrape in their last teammate. She looked at the people around her for help.

Kirda, the girl she met on the boat ride here. Rei, who was found hiding behind a few boxes. Gaou, who found _them_. And Anji, having met her through fate _literally_ pushing them together. She met them all by a complete and random coincidence. Yet somehow, she believed in her team.

"It's Team Musakui." Flein told the employee behind the counter.

The team was formed.


	10. Chapter 10: Rain of Blood

Chapter 10: Rain of Blood

The newly formed Team Musakui inched their way through the quickly growing crowd. Now that the Opening Ceremony was just minutes away, the stadium was finally filling to the brim with demons. For the first time, the four girls on the team were holding hands in an attempt not to lose one another, while Gaou led the way, his massive form clearing the aisles in front of them. Flein tried to ignore Rei's gaudy ring digging into her hand and tried to focus on not tripping or bumping into anyone.

As they made their way down the stadium steps, Flein started to notice that the front row seats were still mostly empty. "_That's weird_." she thought. "_I thought people would have wanted to grab those first_."

"The front section is roped off." Gaou said, noticing it too. Flein squinted at the lettered sign that was hanging upon the aforementioned ropes. Before she could make it out, Gaou looked back at her and said, "Looks like that's where we'll be sitting." She looked back to the sign and squinted again. The sign did indeed say "RESERVED FOR COMPETITORS".

Flein looked back behind Rei and at Anji, who seemed focused on looking down at the steps in front of her. "Anji! Maybe you'll find your friend here!" she tried to yell over the crowd.

Anji looked up, almost stumbled over the steps in front of her, then said, "Oh yeah!"

They stepped over the rope in front of the front row and sat down, Kirda almost knocking the barricade down in the process. As soon as Flein's butt hit the seat, the stadium dimmed and a bright spotlight lit the center of the fighting platform. Not that it made much of a difference, considering the stadium was still lit by the light of the low afternoon sun.

A female demon in oversized pink shorts climbed up onto the fighting platform and bounced to the center of the spotlight, microphone in hand. Her brown hair matched her tall, brown ears that were distinctly canine in appearance. Flein turned to ask Anji if she was a wolf demon as well, but found her distracted and searching the front row seats in earnest. Even though this area should specifically hold all of the tournament's teams, sixteen teams made up of 5 or 6 people each would equal to about 80-96 fighters. Finding a specific person among that crowd would be tough, and that's assuming the team even knew to sit down in this reserved area. It didn't help that Gaou's massive figure blocked most of their vision of the other fighters.

"Hello everyone, are you ready to see some gory action?!" the canine announcer yelled into the microphone, causing a ripple effect of yelling and screaming from the audience. Flein knew her ears would be ringing by the end of the night. "This is your friendly announcer Koto here, and I will be guiding you through the spectacular and bloody fights of the Dark Tournament! I hope you all are as excited as I am!"

Another round of screaming later, Koto turned to address the other side of the stadium. A fox demon. That's what she had to be. Her round and full brown tail glistened in the spotlight.

"I know all of you are waiting in anticipation for tomorrow's first fight, so first I'm going to go over the rules of the tournament for our fighters, and also for the benefit of our wonderful audience!" she grinned in excitement, while a wave of groans swept over the spectators. Without even looking at a book or piece of paper, Koto cheerily began going over the rules from memory.

"Each team is allowed up to five fighters plus one substitute fighter, in the case that one of your fighters dies a bloody and gruesome death!" The audience cheered loudly at the thought, and Koto waited patiently for them to calm down before continuing. "In the likely case that _another_ one of your team members suffers bloody and gruesome death, leaving your team with only four or less members, so long as your team has enough wins in a match to continue in the tournament, you may find _more_ members to add to your team to make five! It could be a spectator, a fighter from a former team, even your grandma- if blood can be shed, the opportunities are endless!"

While the crowd erupted with cheering once again, the description of possible fighters tempted Flein to look over the front row at her opponents. A lot of them looked like easy kills, but some of them piqued her interest. There were a few teams with females in them as well, one with pink hair sticking out to her the most. Otherwise, her opponents seemed male-dominated. One team was completely disguised with black cloaks. "_Well that's no fun._" Flein thought. She spotted the boy-like Rinku among the crowd and waved, but quickly put her hand down when she noticed Zeru and Roto sitting next to him as well. Chu was nowhere to be found, of course.

"In order for a fighter to lose a match," Koto was still talking. "they must be down for a total of ten counts- counted by yours truly! Another way for you to lose is if you are out of the arena for a total of ten counts as well! But that's boring, so don't dawdle around, okay?!" Koto stopped to catch her breath before continuing. "As for the rules for fighting . . there are none! The fighters get to choose whether they will battle one-on-one, three-on-one, even a bloody battle royale! The teams can even decide their own terms for winning or losing, so make them exciting, people! Otherwise . ." Koto gestured to a room with a large glass window toward the top of the stadium. Flein could see vague shadows of men sitting within. ". . anything and everything is ultimately decided by our lovely Committee! They will get the last say on everything!"

Koto stopped suddenly, as if she had just remembered something. "Oh, one more very important rule for our fighters! No hitting the referee, okay?! I'm talking about me here! Don't even think about it!" Flein thought it almost seemed like Koto had experienced this before in order to be so adamant about it now. "With the fighting rules out of the way, let's discuss the rules for our lovely audience!" Another series of groans traveled their way through the stadium again. "First of all, no spectator is allowed within the arena-"

Flein tuned out and turned to Anji. "I can't find him . ." the wolf demon explained.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will eventually." Flein assured her. She didn't actually know this for sure, but she figured it had to be only a matter of time. Flein briefly wondered if Anji would stick around if she did find him.

She turned to check on how the rest of her team was doing. Gaou was sitting with his arms crossed, either in deep thought or dozing off. Kirda was looking off into the distance, possibly spacing out. Rei was staring intently at her long, painted nails, attempting to file them in a perfect shape with her other pointer nail. Flein could see Rinku with Team Rokuyukai in the distance, looking bored. Flein herself was wondering how it was possible for the spectators to sit in these seats without their butt going numb.

"-and with that out of the way, have fun, shed blood, and welcome to the Dark Tournament!" Koto finished with a grand bow. As the audience gave a deafening roar, the huge ball above her started to shake. It shook once, twice, then opened up from the top to reveal several gun-looking objects pointing in all directions of the stadium.

"_What is that? Are they going to shoot us now?_" Flein thought. She didn't want to rule out how possibly cruel and gory this tournament could be, not to mention just plain stupid for the sake of seeing a head roll or two. Before she could say a word to her teammates, a liquidy red substance sprayed forcefully from the guns in a high arc across the stadium and into the audience. Flein shut her eyes tight as she was suddenly sprayed with the warm, dark red liquid. In just seconds she was covered from head to toe in this sticky juice, along with most of the other audience members. "_Is this . . . blood?!_" she thought, looking down at her hands and her clothes which were covered in red. "_Who's blood is this?_" She turned to look at the audience members, who were wooping and hollering in delight, standing up to receive the spray head on. Some demons were lapping up the blood from their arms, cupping their hands together to gather the sticky red liquid. Others were laughing and splashing each other, jumping in the puddles and kicking the blood at others.

Flein heard a high-pitched siren coming from somewhere nearby, before realizing it was someone's frantic screaming. She turned to look at its source, only to find Rei jammed in the small space underneath the stadium seats, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"MY DRESS! MY DRESS! STOP!" she was screaming over and over again, trying to cram herself deeper underneath the seats to shield her now red dress. It was too late however; she and everyone else were already covered within the first few seconds, before they could even tell what was happening. She turned to look at Kirda, who was looking at herself with a very confused and slightly disgusted expression. Gaou, on the other hand, was looking up at the blood spraying down from above with a smile on his face, as if the opening ceremony finally hit its stride. Flein heard heavy breathing on the other side of her, and turned around to see Anji, who was frantically scrubbing her red arms with her knuckles, taking deep breaths, her eyes closed tightly. She was rocking back and forth at a fast pace.

"Um . . it's okay." Flein tried to comfort her awkwardly. "It's just blood." She didn't know what to do in a situation like this. Hug her? Leave her alone? Call for help?

Anji continued to rock back and forth without stopping, and at first Flein thought she wasn't going to respond. "I can . . . smell it . . it's everywhere . . ." she whispered between heavy breaths. "It's overwhelming . . "

"Yes, all of this blood does have a really strong iron smell . ." Flein agreed, wrinkling her nose. She tried to brush her bangs aside, and noticed her blonde hair was hard and thick with blood.

Without moving from her slightly slouched position, Anji shakily asked, "How . . . can you be so calm? It's everywhere . ."

"I'm used to being covered in blood when I fight." Flein explained. She wondered if maybe her calm voice and attitude would help her friend calm down. "_What kind of team did I choose?" _Flein couldn't help but thinking._ "First Rei is panicking because her dress is stained, and now Anji is apparently scared of blood too? How will these people fight?_" Flein felt like having a panic attack too, but for different reasons.

"What's wrong with her?" Kirda asked, standing up and leaning down to Anji with a look of concern.

"I don't know." Flein honestly said. "I think all the blood is bothering her."

"Hey, it's okay." Kirda said in a comforting tone, rubbing her hand lightly on Anji's back. "You're fine. It won't hurt you. You'll be fine." Anji's breathing seemed to slow down considerably and her persistent rocking came to a slow stop.

Rei was still screaming. Flein thought she could even hear her sobbing as well. "Maybe we should go." Flein suggested. It seemed like they were in their own little bubble, separate from the hollering and cheering from the demons around them.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Kirda said.


	11. Chapter 11: Special Guests

Chapter 11: Special Guests

Besides Rei's occasional sniffling, the walk back to Hotel Kubikukuri was eerily silent. Anji looked at the ground wordlessly the entire way there, but at least she was calm now. She walked a little stiffly, with her arms and legs slightly spread apart, as if she didn't want to even touch herself. Gaou obviously wanted to stay longer at the opening ceremonies for more exciting blood action, but must have felt inclined to join the rest of his team to see their new room.

Before leaving the stadium, Team Musakui's recent registration into the Dark Tournament enabled them to get their _own_ complimentary room at Hotel Kubikukuri. Flein was relieved that they no longer had to worry about Team Rokuyukai's interference. She also couldn't wait to get to the room to wash up. She had a feeling that everyone would be fighting on who has dibs on the shower when they get back.

When they walked into the lobby of the five-star hotel, Flein felt out of place with her bloody clothes and hair. Even though she knew everyone else at the stadium must be covered in blood as well, she couldn't help but feel like the other guests were staring judgmentally at her, with their half-filled wine glasses and pearl necklaces.

"Hey, if it isn't Gaou and his lady friends!" Flein heard a familiar childish voice. She whirled around to find Rinku behind her, yo-yo swinging casually from his hand.

"What are you doing already here?!" Flein couldn't help but blurt out. She was pretty sure they left before anyone else. On top of that, Rinku was sparkling clean without a spot of blood on him.

"We left before the big ball opened o' course! Zeru always says that part of the opening ceremony is _barbaric_." he said cheekily, then looked at the state of Flein's team and smiled smugly. "Look like _you_ guys stuck around though."

"Well, we didn't know that was going to happen . ." Kirda admitted, looking regretfully at the bloody footprints they tracked onto the hotel's clean floors. In fact, the stadium was going to have a hard time cleaning up tonight before tomorrow's match.

"Or perhaps you're just as barbaric as the rest of them." That cold voice could only belong to one person: Zeru. He was leaning against the wall near the sitting area, glaring at them with cold eyes. "Every demon who knows about the Dark Tournament knows about the blood spilling at the Opening Ceremony. Us higher classed demons do well to avoid such a pitiful display. I would expect such an action from _Gaou_, but perhaps his entire team is full of disgusting low-lifes. The sight of your joyful participation in such an event is embarrassing." Now he was just trying to rile them up.

"_I'm not taking the bait_." Flein thought, glaring back at him. "_And please, higher classed demon? You're a C class at best._"

"Whatever. I woulda died of boredom before then anyway." Rinku said casually, perhaps trying to tactfully avoid conflict. "C'mon Zeru, let's go upstairs! The special guests will be here soon and I wanna give them a warm welcome!"

"Special guests?" Flein asked, making it a point to only address Rinku and ignore Zeru.

"Yeah! I heard this year they're gonna be _humans_." he said, saying the word as if he were talking about a delicious piece of candy or perhaps a fun roller coaster he was about to ride.

"Humans?! They wouldn't stand a chance in this tournament." Flein said, frowning. "What's the fun in that?"

"'What's the fun' you ask!" Rinku hooted, swinging his yo-yo enthusiastically in a circle. "Trust me, playing with them will be a lot of fun! I hope I get a match with them!" He stuffed the yo-yo back in his pouch and turned around. "I'm going to give them a _big_ surprise just like I did with you! C'mon Zeru!"

Zeru followed Rinku at his own pace to the elevators, keeping his menacing eyes on Team Musakui for as long as possible before the elevator doors closed behind them.

"Fighting humans in the Dark Tournament is not even a challenge" Kirda said after they were gone. "It's more like murder." Flein nodded in agreement.

"I wonder what made them think they could survive in a tournament like this . ." Anji quietly piped up for the first time in a while. "How did they even find out about this place?"

"Special guests don't have a choice on whether they fight or not." Gaou explained, looking carefully around the room. It occurred to Flein that he might be keeping an eye out for Chu. "They are invited to fight in the tournament, and if they refuse, they're assassinated."

"That's horrible . ." Anji said, staring at her feet. "I would understand if it were demons who are criminals or something, but humans? It's a death sentence. I hope we don't have to fight them . ."

"I'm not surprised." Flein said. "Watching us slaughter an innocent human begging for their life is probably just what they want to see."

At that moment a familiar smell wafted in Flein's direction, and she wasn't sure if she was smelling it because she was thinking about them or if they were actually here. Not the people dressed in tuxedos and ball gowns. Humans.

"Do you smell that?" Anji asked before Flein could. "What is that?"

"Smell what?" Rei stopped moping and lifted her head up, looking around. She probably thought they were referring to food.

"It's humans." Flein answered, scanning her eyes over the hotel lobby.

"Humans?! That smell is humans?" Anji cried, looking around nervously. Rei almost instinctively jerked her arms up to her chest as if protecting herself for some reason.

"I'm almost positive." Flein replied, chalking Anji and Rei's reactions up to inexperience and looking over the leather couches, the desk area, the sliding glass front door. A hotel employee with a light gray tuxedo emerged from a small cluster of hotel guests, who seemed to be converged in a sort of secret gossip session. A woman wearing an expensive fur coat kept flitting her eyes back and forth toward an area just behind the tuxedo-clad employee, before turning back and whispering to the rest of the group with a slightly poisonous smile. Flein could hear excited whispering emerging from all corners of the hotel lobby. She followed the hotel guests' gazes to the group of people the hotel employee seemed to be leading.

Rinku wasn't exactly correct. There were indeed humans. However, two members of this special team were distinctly demon. Flein could pick them out on sight. One of the demons had long red hair, slightly frayed and wild in some places. The other was a black-haired demon who couldn't have been more than a few inches taller than Flein. His hair spiked up high in a way that reminded her of a black flame. Definitely demons.

Two other members of the team could only be called humans. After noticing the two demons immediately, the next thing Flein couldn't help but notice is that one of the humans already appeared to be either injured or passed out. The other human, an orange-haired teen who had an unfortunate facial structure, was carrying him on his back.

"_The Tournament hasn't even begun and he's already passed out from fright_." Flein thought sympathetically. "_Or he was just plain beat up_."

The fifth team member was obviously a child, with a torn white cloth wrapped around his head to conceal his face. Flein couldn't tell if he was a human or a demon. If he were human, she would have to draw the line on fighting him at all. Even she wouldn't be able to stomach killing a small helpless child for others' enjoyment.

"I gotta bad feeling about the people in here, I never trust grown-ups who dress that fancy . ." Flein heard the orange-haired pack mule say as they passed by Team Musakui. The red-haired demon's emerald eyes landed on the group and observed them for a few seconds that almost seemed like hours before returning tactfully to the space in front of him. Flein felt like he was evaluating and assessing not only the dirty state of their dress, but aspects of their team that shouldn't even be seen with the naked eye. Even though she saw no judgment or threat in his eyes, Flein somehow felt like she should be embarrassed.

"Heh. Looks like the Committee hired some demons to help even out the odds." Gaou said after the special guests were led into the elevator. "They should know that even with a few demons' help, the humans are still dead meat."

"At least their chances are a little higher . ." Anji said, staring at the spot they once occupied. "The demons will help gain them a few wins, I'm sure."

"That's assuming that the demons even want to help them . ." Flein interjected. "Although if they have their own wish in mind for the prize, I'm sure they'll try to get them along as far as possible. But they may only manage to succeed in prolonging their lives a little longer . ."

"Did you see that really short person?" Kirda mentioned.

"The one with the mask? That's gotta be a kid or something." Flein replied. "If that's supposed to be a disguise to hide their age, they're not fooling anyone. And I was just thinking that if it's a human, I won't be able to fight him."

"Me neither . ." Anji muttered, looking at the ground in thought.

A silence covered the group like a thick fog, while the hushed mutters of the guests around them could be heard faintly in the background.

". . . . Okay, well I'm going upstairs and taking a shower." Rei broke the serious contemplation and headed toward the hotel elevators without looking back.

"Sheesh, you don't even have the key." Kirda laughed, but Rei was already jamming her finger repeatedly on the elevator button. It didn't even seem like she was interested or even listening to their previous conversation. The group followed behind her and into the elevator, the close quarters of the tight space making the smell of dried blood grow stronger. Anji looked absolutely nauseous. Flein willed the elevator to climb faster.

"Think they noticed us?" Kirda said sarcastically with a smile.

"Well, the red-haired guy definitely did." Flein said.

"Guy?! I thought that was a girl!" Kirda blurted out, staring at her friend in shock.

"I'm positive that was a guy. You could tell because of his body structure." Flein told her. Kirda burst out laughing and didn't stop until they reached their floor.

"I really thought that was a girl!" she insisted as they walked toward their hotel room door. Rei was already charging ahead of them only to wait for them at the door, tapping her foot impatiently. But instead of quickening their pace, the group stopped short and stared at the two figures behind her. Rei slowly noticed their confused expressions and looked behind her to find Zeru and Rinku again, coming out of a room down the hall, a playful grin on Rinku's face.

This would all be normal and no cause for alarm, except for the fact that the room was not Team Rokuyukai's room.

"What are you guys doing here?" Flein asked suspiciously. She wouldn't put it past Zeru to sabotage the competition.

Zeru only smiled at her. "Greeting our special guests." he said, before turning his back to them and walking away. Rinku only grinned and winked at the girls before following behind his teammate. Flein guessed he had a successful scare.

"So that's where they're staying . ." Kirda said, looking curiously at the door the two came out of. Then her eyes lit up and she gave an excited gasp, turning to Flein. "I know! Let's go say hi!"

Flein stopped to consider it, but then shook her head. "They barely just got here and they were already bothered by Zeru and Rinku. Plus . ." she spread her arms and pointed at her bloodied clothes. ". . look at us. Good impression?"

"Yeah . . I just wanted to show them that we're not like the others . ." Kirda explained with a look of disappointment.

"Don't worry, we will." Flein assured her. "But I think if we go in there right now, they'll think they're under attack again. Let's let them adapt first. I'm sure they had a long day . . or even a horribly bad day, by the look of one of them." She remembered the human with the short black hair who was slung over the other human's shoulder. She wondered if he would be okay by tomorrow's match.

"C'mon, open the dooooor!" Rei whined, stamping her feet and twisting her body.

"All right, all right . ." Kirda conceded, fishing they key out of her pocket and unlocking the door to their new home for the next few days.


	12. Chapter 12: A Cold Night

Chapter 12: A Cold Night

The room wasn't much different from Team Rokuyukai's counterpart. It was likely that all of Hotel Kubikukuri's rooms were modeled in the same way. On top of that, there were still only three beds in the bedroom. Flein wondered if they'd have to draw straws on who will sleep on the other couch in the sitting room with Gaou.

Before all members of Team Musakui even entered the room, Rei walked briskly to the bathroom, shutting the door quickly behind her. Before long, Flein could hear running water in the bathtub.

"Nice of her to ask us if she could go first." Kirda dripped sarcasm, nodding her head toward the bathroom door.

"Yeah . ." Flein sighed, rolling her eyes. She was about to suggest playing rock paper scissors on who gets to go next, but then caught Anji's sick expression again as she was slipping off her heavy jacket. She didn't want her to have another episode of whatever that was back at the stadium. If it was the smell that was causing it, there was an easy way to fix that. "We should decide on who gets the shower next." Flein looked pointedly at Kirda, then gestured toward Anji with her eyes repeatedly. Kirda nodded, understanding.

"How about Anji go next, then Flein, then Gaou, then Kirda?" Kirda said, pointing at herself. "There . . . ABC order!" She smiled at herself as if she just thought of it. Flein wasn't so sure that she hadn't.

"Are you really okay with going last?" Flein inquired. She didn't like it, but she could endure being caked in blood more than others.

"Yep! I can make my own water to wash off the heavy stuff in the meantime." Kirda winked, dripping water from her hands and held them up for Flein to see. "I'll just have to make sure I don't sit down anywhere, so I don't get the furniture dirty-"

Before Kirda could even finish her sentence, Gaou plopped down heavily on the couch. "I don't care when I take a shower- or even IF I take a shower!" he said with something almost resembling pride. "I can go last." Flein and Kirda just stared at the back of his head before turning to each other to exchange disgusted expressions.

Anji set her hefty bag gently on the ground, as if dropping it would cause blood to splatter everywhere. For a lack of anything else to do while they waited, Flein and Kirda watched her casually as she begin pulling various clothes out from it: a faded black T-shirt, fluffy pajama pants, and an undwear set that she discretely hid underneath the other garments. Flein noticed that the pocket that held her wallet, brochure, and silver necklace was still slightly open. It reminded her of when the contents spilled out of it when they first bumped into each other.

Thinking of meeting Anji today reminded Flein of why the wolf demon was here. Even though the opening ceremony was more or less chaos, she thought it odd that they couldn't find Anji's team in the crowd somewhere. It shouldn't be hard to spot five people with ears and bushy tails. For the first time, she started to seriously consider what could have happened to them.

Then it crossed her mind. The boat. The boat that transported Kirda, Rei, and herself to Hanging Neck Island. They had to fight other demons for survival and a chance to fight in the Dark Tournament. Could it be that the wolf demon team didn't pass the test? Flein didn't want to consider it, but she had to know whether or not Anji was aware that this was a possibility.

"Hey, Anji." Flein began casually, watching her attempt to fold her dirty jacket neatly into a square. She could hear Kirda next to her washing her face with her hands. "How did you come to Hanging Neck Island anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Anji asked, turning to look up at Flein from her kneeling position. "I came here by boat, if that's what you're asking."

"And did you have to . . um . . do anything special in order to get here?" Flein wanted to approach the topic carefully. "Other than just simply riding the boat here, anyway."

"Ummmm . . well I had to get a ticket. That put me in a jam for a while." Anji explained, turning her dark blue eyes to the ceiling in thought. "But I ended up meeting someone who was selling them, so I was lucky. Other than that, I felt a little seasick on the ride here. That's all."

Flein definitely didn't recall needing a ticket to get on the boat that transported competitors. Risking their own lives was their payment. Moreover, it didn't sound like Anji needed to fight anyone at all for a safe transport. From the sounds of it, it seems like she rode a separate boat that was specifically meant for spectators or tourists.

If Anji wasn't aware of the risk her team had to take before they even arrived at Hanging Neck Island, Flein wasn't going to tell her. She didn't need to give up hope yet, especially when there's no proof that they didn't survive. If possible, she would tell her at a later time that was more suitable.

"Why?" Anji asked, staring at Flein with curious eyes. Flein jerked out of her train of thought.

"Just wondering." Flein assured her, her brain grasping for an excuse. "I was just . . wondering why I didn't see you on my trip here, that's all."

"Oh." Anji said, turning back to her bag and zipping it back up again. "When did you arrive? I just got here this morning. Maybe we took a different boat."

"Ah, that explains it." Flein said, acting relieved that she got an answer to her question. "We got here yesterday."

"We were all on the same boat! Weird, huh?" Kirda smiled behind her hands as she rubbed her cheeks. Flein wondered if the water from Kirda's hands tasted good.

"That is strange." Anji smiled, standing up. "It must be fate." Having a casual talk like this seemed to be putting her in a better mood.

Selfishly, Flein also didn't want to inform Anji of the preliminary boat battles because she wanted to ensure that the wolf demon wasn't in an unstable emotional state by the time they fought their first match tomorrow. She needed everybody to be prepared. She was already having doubts about them enough as it was.

As if hearing her thoughts, Rei burst out of the bathroom wrapped in a white towel, her hair tied up in a loose bun. Misty warm water vapor curled around her, and she didn't seem ashamed at all, even when Gaou opened an eye curiously at her half-naked state. "There's no more hot water." she stated bluntly before heading into the bedroom and shutting the door abruptly behind her.

Flein took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Tonight was going to be another long night.

Cold water soaked the pillow underneath her head, seeping into the cotton and was sure to come back to wet Flein's cheek later in the night. Despite her dripping hair, she still kept finding random flakes of blood in the tangles of her blonde strands. Flein couldn't help wondering again who the blood belonged to.

"Humans are different than what I pictured." Anji was saying in the bed above her. Instead of trying to choose who would sleep on the second couch in the sitting room, Flein volunteered to sleep on the floor in the bedroom. It wasn't an unfamiliar situation for her. In fact, this was better than what she was used to, considering her teammates lended her some extra blankets and pillows.

"What do you mean?!" Rei asked. Flein couldn't see Rei's expression from her position on the floor, but she thought she could hear a slight defensive tone in her voice.

"Well, from all of the things I've heard about them, I always pictured them to be small, helpless-looking creatures." Anji explained. "But they look like us. Well, minus any ears, tails, horns, fins . ." She trailed off, staring at her arms. Flein noticed that even after she took a shower, her arms were still red from having rubbed them raw in the stadium earlier.

"_We haven't even had a chance to fight yet, but we've already got our first injury._" Flein thought, pulling the blanket closer to her. She was still shivering from the freezing shower water.

"Well, yeah! Don't tell me you've never seen humans before!" Kirda said. She was hanging up the last of the wet clothes in the closet to dry, after having tried to scrub them with soapy cold water the best she could. Despite her efforts, there were red stains in some of them that would probably never wash out. Flein was just happy she would have clean clothes before they were probably soaked with sweat tomorrow. In the meantime, she and Kirda were wearing complimentary white hotel robes for the night. Flein was grateful that it was at least warmer than her usual outfit after the cold shower experience.

"Nope, this was the first time I've ever seen or smelled humans." Anji told her, shaking her head, water droplets flying everywhere from her disheveled hair. Her purple hair seemed a tad longer now that she let it down from her ponytail.

"No way!" Kirda exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes. She tightened the cloth belt on her robe before walking over to her bed in the middle of the other two and sat down. "Well, I guess we both had a first then!"

"What do you mean?" Flein asked her curiously. It just occurred to her that she knew very little about her friend.

"Well, yesterday was my first time seeing other _demons_!" Kirda answered. "I grew up in the Human World my whole life, so I'd never seen another one, you know?"

"Wow, you grew up among humans? What made you decide to do that?" Anji asked, leaning closer in her bed.

"Well, I didn't exactly _decide_ to do it." Kirda explained. "According to my first caretakers, they found me in the forest behind their house one day. I was just a little baby! I guess my parents left me there . . And well, I've been living in the Human World ever since!" She didn't seem bothered at all by the story she was telling.

"That must have been hard." Anji said anyway.

"Not really!" Kirda said cheerily. "Luckily I can easily pass as a human, I just gotta make sure not to use my powers or nothin'! The only people who knew I had them were my first caretakers. Oh, and you know, I had to re-locate every once in a while or else people would start noticing that I wasn't aging." She laughed to herself at this last thought. Flein noticed that she neglected to mention how it felt to watch her caretakers die. Flein knew that this girl had felt pain in her life, despite her nonchalant smile when telling the story. She just wasn't the type to bring her broken luggage to the table.

"Wow . . I can't imagine living my whole life in the Human World . ." Anji said slowly, lifting her head to the ceiling in contemplation. "I've never left my village until now."

"Well, I spent a few years in the Human World myself. It's not so bad." Flein contributed, then looked at Kirda. "You're lucky you didn't always have to hide ears and a tail though . ." Kirda just laughed, running her hand through her long, black hair, which was slightly wavy due to it being braided so often.

"Really?! _Both_ of you spent so much time in the Human World? _And_ both of you were abandoned too . . I feel spoiled!" Anji exclaimed, looking concerned. Then she turned to Rei, as if she were going to ask her what _her _story was, only to find her knocked out cold in her bed, breathing softly.

"I guess she was bored by my story." Kirda said, laughing again. Looking at Rei already sleeping prompted her to get up and stand by the light switch. "Are we ready? We have to get up early tomorrow again to find out when our first match is."

Just talking about it made the butterflies come fluttering back into Flein's stomach. She was still in disbelief that tomorrow she would be fighting complete strangers. It both scared and excited her.

"I'm ready." Flein said, Kirda shutting off the light and coating the room in darkness. Flein meant it in more ways than one.


	13. Chapter 13: An Early Prize

Chapter 13: An Early Prize

_Running._

_ Running to nowhere, running to escape. The ground underneath her kept shaking at a steady rhythm, and every time it shook she was almost knocked off her feet._

_ Boom. Boom. Boom._

_ He was closing in. She dared a chance to look behind her, but never stopped running for a moment. He was taller than she remembered, his face blocked by shadows. Just one of his legs was the width and height of a tall skyscraper._

_ Boom. Boom. Boom._

_ He was getting closer, closer, until she was sure his enormous foot would simply smash her flat. She kept on running, staring at the endless darkness in front of her, not wanting to look back at her impending doom._

_"I'll find you . . I'll find you . . I'll find you . ."_

"Flein! Flein!"

She continued to be shaken over and over again, and she strained to run faster.

"Flein! Wake up! It's time!"

Flein opened her eyes and gasped when she saw Kirda's dark green eyes in front of her instead of her looming father.

"Time to get up." Kirda repeated, this time with a small amused smile. She walked to the other side of the room to wake Rei, leaving Flein squinting at the bright sunlight she was no longer blocking.

The second nightmare on Hanging Neck Island didn't scare or surprise her. Now she was simply angry. These annoying dreams only made her want to confront her father even sooner. She wrestled with what she thought was blankets tangled around her, only to realize it was the white hotel robe she had put on last night.

"Reeeiiii, wake uuuuuup" Flein heard Kirda sing from the other side of the room, as she headed toward the closet to put on her clothes. Her denim shorts were still cold and slightly damp from the night before, but at least they were clean. Anji was already dressed and leaning against the wall near the bedroom door, looking slightly nervous.

Flein walked past her and opened the door to the sitting room, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Gaou was still sleeping on the couch. He couldn't go mysteriously missing again. Not today. She wondered if perhaps they gravitated to the sitting room and started making subtle noises, if he would just wake up naturally.

Before Flein could carry out any plans, Kirda casually strode past her and stopped in front of the sofa Gaou was sleeping on. "Time to wake up!" she said cheerily, causing his eyes to snap open, before she calmly walked away again, stepping into her shoes.

"How brave." Anji said, standing beside Flein and looking at Gaou, who was slowly rising from his slumber. Flein nodded in agreement, lost in thought.

"_I hope we can be brave in the match today_." she was thinking, searching for her shoes. As their first match in the Dark Tournament was getting closer and closer, she was getting more and more doubtful.

After being delayed by Rei, who needed an unbelievable amount of time to prepare for her "debut", Team Musakui headed to the stadium. The group was unusually quiet today. Flein guessed it was because everyone was nervous in their own way.

"You know that dress is going to get dirty, right?" Kirda finally said, munching on an apple. Rei was wearing a pastel pink-colored dress, with a matching ribbon sitting perfectly positioned on top of her head. She was focusing her full attention on the compact mirror she was holding in front of her face.

"This is an off-brand dress, so it's okay if it gets a little dirty." Rei explained without looking away from the mirror. Kirda just shrugged and sank her teeth into the apple again. Flein had to guess that the "off-brand" dress still cost more than Flein had ever had in her life.

The stadium finally came into view, and Flein felt her heart climbing to her throat. They were about to find out which team they would be fighting, and she felt like breaking into a sprint and curling up on the ground at the same time. Suddenly she felt unprepared, as if she needed to start training right this minute. She wondered if maybe the other teams had stayed up all night preparing themselves. She subconsciously walked faster.

By the time she was nearing the tournament chart at the entrance of the stadium, she was practically running. She could hear the pounding of feet behind her of her friends trying to keep up. She thought she could hear a distant "Wait! You're going too fast!" in Rei's voice behind her, but she didn't even give it a passing thought. The tournament chart was in front of her now, and she wouldn't stop for anybody.

Fighting the urge to push the other people out of the way, Flein squeezed her way to the front of the crowd to peer at the tournament chart on the wall overhead. She scanned the row of team names slowly, her heart beating a mile per minute. At first there was a terrifying moment where couldn't find Team Musakui at all, and she wondered if there had been some sort of mistake or complication and now they wouldn't be able to fight after all their hard work.

But then she saw it: Team Musakui VS Team Gorenja. 10:00AM. They would be going right after Team Rokuyukai VS Team Urameshi, which was the first fight of the day. Flein didn't know of Team Urameshi, but she silently rooted for Rinku and Chu before making her way back out of the crowd of curious spectators. She found her team at the back of the crowd, Kirda standing on her tiptoes.

"We're fighting Team Gorenja at 10AM." Flein informed them with relief. "We've got 2 hours."

Rei brushed down her bangs for the fifth time this morning and started heading toward the food cart. "Good, so we can go get some real food." she said without waiting for the others. Flein sighed and followed her team. She knew it would be too much to ask them to start training at such a short notice. Plus, she knew she was simply fighting her own anxiety at the moment.

On their way to the inner corridors of the stadium, a familiar and nostalgic smell made Flein stop in her tracks and whirl around, searching for the source. The smell brought back memories at least 4,000 years old, and the feeling that came with it was so strong, that she almost temporarily forgot where she was. Her eyes scanned the crowd, desperately trying to find out where the smell was coming from.

"Flein, why did you stop?" she heard Kirda say behind her. Flein honestly couldn't answer her, considering she herself didn't know what was going on. Why would she be smelling such an old scent- one from before she was banished from her home- in a place like this? It was faint, but it was there.

"Someone here smells weird." Anji stated calmly, looking around. So she could smell it too.

Flein turned to the wolf demon. "Anji, can you tell where it's coming from?" The numerous amount of strange smells in this crowd was making her lose the scent. She knew she would never be satisfied for the rest of the day unless she could figure out who that smell belonged to.

Anji took a few sniffs of the air, before turning toward the area slightly to the left of the entrance to the arena. "Over there?"

At first all she could see was a large group of lizard demons, before finally a group of humans emerged from the crowd and started climbing the stairs to the upper level of the stadium. No, not only humans. Two of them were clearly from the Spirit World. The one leading the group in particular made Flein's blood boil, and it took all of her self-control not to forget everything and march right after him.

"Koenma." Flein muttered through gritted teeth. Her half-brother. Her father's precious son, who believed every one of his wretched lies about her. Her stuck-up half-brother, who never once stood up for her through all of the hell she went through from her father. Her spoiled half-brother, who inherited all of the power and responsibility from her father and didn't deserve even a morsel of it.

Now she knew why the smell was so familiar. She should have known that such an old smell could only mean bad memories.

Her half-brother's blue cloaked form disappeared up the stairs, along with the three girls following him. She wondered if they were equivalent to trophies, or women he attracted due to his power and kept around to cure his own boredom, or lift his self-esteem. The thought of these girls, two of them human, hanging off of him all day made her sick.

"Who's Koenma?" Kirda asked, staring at the space at top of the stairs her half-brother once occupied. "He's cute!"

"No." Flein said, grinding her teeth. "He's not cute at all." Kirda just stared at her in confusion, probably wondering why she was so angry all of the sudden.

Flein shook it off, trying to pull herself together. She had to focus on their first match now- she would deal with Koenma later. It would take more than two hours to give him a piece of her mind.

Just at that moment, there was a loud, repetitive booming sound, and for a second Flein was reminded of the dream she had last night. The thought of her father stepping through the stadium made her blood heat up all over again.

"Oh, it's fireworks." Kirda said, glancing outside at the sky above the arena. "The first match is about to start." Flein was still trying to shake off her anger and focus. She wished she were out there on that fighting platform instead. She could really fight off some stress and frustration right now.

"_Why is he here?!_" she kept thinking to herself over and over again. "_Is it just a coincidence? Or was he sent here as father's lackey to come find me?_" It suddenly occurred to her that her first fight could end with Koenma swooping down and claiming custody of her, dragging her back to Spirit World to be destroyed by King Enma. "_At least that would be a faster way to face my father. But I came here to fight._"

"Rei is gone." Flein heard Anji say beside her, and suddenly Flein wanted to take out her anger on her bonehead dress-wearing teammate instead.

"I'm sure she went to go find food." she said exasperated, and went to go search for her, Koto's voice in the microphone ringing in her ears from the arena.

Rei was eating a greasy burger near the side of a food stand, crouching with her back against the wall. It was obvious she was trying to find a way to eat the sloppy food in a dainty way.

"_There_ you are! We were looking all over for you!" Flein scolded her, done trying to hide her anger. Kirda, Anji, and Gaou had the courtesy not to ask about her sudden frustration at the sight of the blue-cloaked man. She hoped that they simply thought it was one of the ways she reacted when she was nervous.

"Well, you guys were just standing around." Rei said defensively, taking another bite from the burger. She was carefully shielding the food from her dress by holding the wrapper between them.

"You can't just run off like that!" Flein insisted. Thunder boomed outside of the stadium, vibrating the walls around them. It seemed to echo her sentiments exactly, and she knew it wasn't fireworks this time.

"Is it storming?!" Anji asked, looking hopefully at the ceiling. "It was sunny when we were outside just a few minutes ago."

"Well since we're here . ." Kirda began, sneaking slyly over to the food stand, Anji following closely behind her. Flein sighed. She couldn't argue with food- her empty stomach was probably partly to blame for her angry outbursts. She followed her teammates to the foodstand, eyeing the burger menu as well.

"After we eat, we should check to see how Team Rokuyukai is doing!" Kirda suggested cheerfully. Flein knew she was probably wondering how Chu was going to do in the fight. Gaou frowned behind them.

"Hopefully they're being beaten to a pulp." he said. It was the first thing he had said all day. Flein wondered if there wasn't at least a few members on that team he was fond of enough to worry about.

"Well, I hope _Zeru and Roto _are being beaten to a pulp!" Kirda said with a smile.

Food in hand, they headed over to sit next to Rei, who still seemed afraid to sit her butt directly on the ground despite wearing the "off-brand" dress.

"So, who's this Koenma person?" Kirda asked, trying her best to sound casual. The question might as well have stabbed Flein in the shoulder. She was trying so hard to will her teammates to avoid questioning it.

"He's my half-brother." she explained regretfully. "He's _not_ a good person." She finished her sentence in a way that denied any further explanation.

"Ah." Kirda muttered, taking a bite of slimey-looking pizza. Silence hung around them for a few moments, as she felt her teammates' urge to keep down more questions. "Seems popular with the ladies."

"Pffft. Who knows what he's into now." Flein hissed with venom, downing a bite of burger whole. For a second she wished she could forget about her scheduled match and go look for him herself. Talking about him was dangerous for her self-control.

The group ate in silence until the last bite was taken by Anji. Then they headed toward the arena, planning to watch the fight from the competitor doorways instead of fighting through the crowd of spectators. Being a competing team had its perks.

The crowd grew louder and louder as they got closer, and Flein was starting to wonder how she would deal with the loud noise of the audience when she was on the fighting platform herself. Looking out at the center of the stadium, the first thing Flein noticed was that there seemed to be a colorful garden growing in the center of the arena, full of pink and purple carnations. Just before she could ask her friends why the staff decided to decorate the center of the stage, she saw a bluish-gray hand twitching in the center of the bed of flowers, one with long, sharp nails.

"Is that . . ?" Kirda began, squinting her eyes.

"It's Roto." Gaou said with certainty, staring at the lifeless form of his former teammate. He was covered in the beautiful flowers, the roots sprouting up from his intestines. On the other side of the stadium, the red-haired demon that stared at Flein's team earlier with piercing, emerald eyes, was walking away from his gardening work, practically unharmed.

"Team Urameshi is the human team?!" Flein exclaimed, turning her eyes to the team that the victor was heading toward. Sure enough, there stood the demon whose black hair was like the silhouette of a flame, the orange-haired human- who seemed to have been injured in the previous fight- the masked child, and the passed out human, who was still sleeping against the wall. At this point Flein was wondering if the guy was in a coma. Along with them stood the blue-haired girl who Flein could tell belonged to the Spirit World- she immediately recognized her as one of the girls who was hanging around Koenma. She almost hated her out of association.

"_Does Koenma have a hand in creating this human team?_" Flein thought, clenching her fists. "_Don't tell me it was his or father's idea to pit humans against demons . . ._" She wouldn't put it past them. It would only give her one more reason to hate them.

"Look! It's Zeru!" Kirda said, bringing Flein's attention back to the center of the arena. The blonde, pale demon was standing impatiently in the middle of the fighting platform, challenging the opposing team with his cold eyes.

For what seemed like an eternity of waiting- Flein was almost sure Team Urameshi was considering forfeit on their first match- a white piece of cloth floated on the wind and suddenly smacked right into Flein's face.

"What is this?!" she gasped, ripping the cloth off of her, to find that the black-haired demon was now on the fighting platform, staring down Zeru- without his scarf.

Flein looked down at the white cloth in her hand, making the connection.

"Looks like you already got a prize!" Kirda laughed loudly, taking the smooth scarf from her hands and wrapping it around Flein's neck teasingly. Even though the cloth was of thin material, it was warm.

"I guess he won't miss this, if he's just going to throw it away." Flein smiled, tying the scarf around her neck. She turned back to see Koto yelling "Begin!", waving her arm down quickly between the two.

Flein glared at Zeru, who was already exploding in waves of flames. She squeezed the soft cloth between her fingers, and silently rooted for the scarf's owner.


	14. Chapter 14: Dragon of the Darkness Flame

Reviews and criticism are encouraged and welcome!

Chapter 14: Dragon of the Darkness Flame

It started as small flames, and then they got larger, hotter, until they became uncontrollable. Audience members screamed as the flames licked at their feet, before the fire rose up and engulfed entire sections of the stadium. Streams of fire even sped toward the team members on the sidelines, who had to quickly dodge or block the flames. This all happened in seconds- long enough for Flein to realize they were directly in the line of fire.

She swiftly put a barrier up around herself and her friends just before a flame as hot as hellfire crashed into them. Rei screamed and ducked behind the other girls' legs, even though she had been blocked from harm. Flein could feel the heat radiating from just outside of her barrier. Just as she was beginning to feel like she was being cooked in a microwave, chuckling from Team Urameshi's competitor interrupted Zeru's train of thought and the random bursts of flame ceased.

As Zeru fired balls of flame at his smaller opponent, Flein put down her barrier and drew in air, realizing she had been accidentally holding her breath the whole time.

"Man, we're lucky to have Flein here!" Kirda exclaimed, laughing at their close call.

"That was scary!" Anji said, holding her hand to her chest. "I guess not even bystanders are safe." Before she could even finish her sentence, Flein could hear parts of the stadium ceiling crumbling down, as one of Zeru's fire balls missed its target once again, causing debris to rain down on the spectators.

"I'm just glad I saw it just seconds before it hit." Flein claimed, glad that her teammates were all right. She didn't know how she'd react if her team members were taken out by Zeru's needless urge to show off.

"I'm fine." Rei assured the others, even though no one had asked. She brushed invisible substances off of her imaculate dress. "I like fire. I'm not afraid of it."

"_Even though you were ducking and screaming just a few seconds ago_." Flein thought, rolling her eyes. She wondered how Rei would feel about fire if she had to fight Zeru herself.

Flein turned back to the arena to see a large wall of orange flame gathering above the pale demon's head, before shooting up through the circular open space on top of the stadium dome and exploding in the air. Warm light showered over the onlookers, brightening up the surroundings on a cloudy day.

"That's a lot of fire . ." Anji commented, looking up at the orange-red sky, the light from the flames reflecting in her fearful blue eyes.

The black-haired demon belonging to the Urameshi Team simply stood there, hands in his pockets, watching Zeru's elaborate show with an expression on his face equivalent to one who was watching a dull documentary about tree fungus.

As if his opponent's bored face challenged him further, Zeru locked his two fists together and drew all of the fire into this body, his pale skin suddenly turning bright red.

"He . . he seems to be engulfed in heat! He's glowing like a poker!" exclaimed the fox-tailed announcer, whose voice was easy for Flein to tune out when so much was going on in the arena at once.

"That's not good." Gaou said, his meaty arms crossed over his chest. "Zeru is as hot as volcanic lava now. In this state, no one can touch him." He lowered his head, seeming to have already reached his own conclusion. "It's over."

"I'm not sure." Flein disagreed, her vision locked on the other demon's red eyes. So far he had been showing no emotion at all- but after this latest development, his expression changed. "The other guy's smiling."

"_How could he smile when facing such a strong attack?_" she thought, looking at Team Urameshi's demon member. "_He has to be stronger than he looks._"

With a movement so fast that Flein almost missed it entirely, Zeru charged at his opponent and shoved his hand right through his stomach like it was warm butter. The black-haired demon flew backwards, engulfed entirely in flame. He barely had a moment to look shocked before Zeru lifted his arm slowly and shot a reddish-black ball of energy at him, which hit dead-on and turned the demon's form into a soot-like shell of his former self. He landed on the white platform with a crackle, and it was a wonder he didn't burst into ashes.

"You see it yourself, people! Hiei is done!" Koto exclaimed happily, her green eyes bright with excitement.

"Well, _that's_ over with." Kirda stated, a corner of her mouth turned downward.

Flein looked down at the white scarf still wrapped around her neck, squeezing it tightly. She didn't know if she still felt comfortable wearing it, knowing it belonged to someone now deceased.

"_Hiei, huh . _." she thought, taking the enthusiastic fox's word for it and acknowledging the name of the scarf's original owner. "_Why did you have to prove me wrong?_" She suddenly felt like climbing up on that platform and taking on Zeru herself. She couldn't stand knowing that he would walk around another day with his arrogance, thinking that he got another easy kill under his belt.

"As I said before," Gaou's deep voice rasped behind her, although she didn't bother looking up. "Zeru is a powerful opponent. We'll be lucky if he can be defeated by some other team before we have to fight him ourselves."

"You say that, but I have something to put out his fire!" Kirda said, a confident smile lighting up her face. "He wouldn't have such an easy time with me!"

"Or with me." The rest of the team turned to Flein to see her gripping the white scarf so hard her knuckles were turning white. "If we were to ever fight, he would see whose fire is stronger."

"Flein?" Anji's soft voice made Flein's right ear twitch slightly. "Are you okay? You seem kinda angry today . ." Flein supposed she was a bit high-strung, but she could easily blame that on the high amount of cocky bastards running around lately.

Before she could answer, the loud sound of a crackling fire made her snap her head up, only to see an enormous fire bathe the stadium in orange light once again. At first, Flein thought that Zeru had somehow found a reason to _continue_ showing off, in which case she wouldn't have been able to stop herself from charging at him.

However, her enemy Zeru was standing on the opposite side of the arena, looking at the large fire with an expression of complete shock, his body already drained of all heat. In the center of the red flame, Flein could faintly see the form of a person within.

"Ah! Oh my! Hiei survived!" Koto yelled helpfully for the benefit of her near-sighted viewers, looking almost as shocked as Zeru himself. "He's on his feet, he's . . smoldering!"

"No way . ." Gaou was uncrossing his arms now, his pupils seeming to shrink as his eyes widened. "But nobody survives Zeru's attack . ."

"_He's alive _. ." Flein couldn't tear her eyes away from Hiei, who was now standing with confidence in the midst of a raging flame, with no more damage than a ripped and tattered blue shirt. The audience was so surprised at the sight of his living form, that every single demon present was so quiet that one could only hear the crackling of the fire surrounding the demon.

A small purple flame evaporated the white bandana that was covering Hiei's forehead, to reveal that it wasn't just a fashion statement- underneath opened a purple eye, staring directly at Zeru. "So my Jagan eye may not be natural . ." His voice reached Flein's senstive ears, just barely hearing him over the fire. "But it does give me _exactly what I need!_"

A glow so bright, that it eliminated the orange colors of the fire around him, erupted from his third eye. This time his voice echoed across the stadium with clarity: "_Dragon of the Darkness Flame!_"

Flein felt her entire body stop moving- even her organs seemed to come to a complete stop inside of her. "Dragon . . of the Darkness Flame . ."

"_It's an attack most dangerous_." _Her father's booming voice traveled around the room, bouncing off the marble walls of the castle. "When one can harness the fire from the bottom of Spirit World itself . . no one can survive!" He exploded into a fit of laughter, his chest heaving up and down, stomping his heavy foot on the floor so hard that the ground shook underneath the ground she was sitting on. She knew her father well enough by now that he wasn't laughing because he discredited the rumor of the darkness flame- he simply loved the thought of destruction. "It would burn anything to ashes- no, to microscopic little bits- no, not even that, the darkness flame would just disintigrate someone entirely! It would even torch the one who held it in his grasp!"_

_ "No one would be able to control a flame like that, Dad!" her half-brother spat, sitting with his head cradled in his hand, a look of dreary boredom etched all over his face. His pacifier was almost slipping out of his mouth._

_ "Perhaps!" King Enma retorted, before leaning over his daughter who was interrupted from an engrossing fairy tale by her father's shadow looming over her. "Someday I'm sure this cursed daughter of mine will become so tainted, her fire will turn dark as the shadows of the lower realms of the Spirit World, simply by association!" His mocking laughter hurt her ears, which felt like crawling inside of themselves to block such horrible noise._

_ "Ha! A fitting conclusion to such a rotten sibling!" Koenma shot in her direction, most likely still sour from Flein having sneaked a roll of bread off his dinner plate earlier._

_ She dropped her book on the floor, landing on its spine, as she brought her knees up to her chest and buried her head in them, shielding herself from the world._

The sky above them turned dark orange, then red, black clouds swirling into ghastly shapes. Even the very air around them seemed to blow ominously, as if to warn of what was to come. A dark hole opened up in the sky, raining down streams of darkness solely onto Hiei, who was channeling its power into him like a vessel. Flein's stomach started to perform somersaults on top of her intestines. If this was the technique she had heard about from her father . .

"You know, it's impossible to control it completely." Hiei said, his voice rising above the chaos, as clear as day. His hand was shaking as if to confirm what he was saying was true. "Once I release it, I have no say."

"Guys . ." Flein said, hearing a tremble in her own voice and fighting to control it. "I think we should step back . ." If this was really the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, she wasn't sure if even her barrier could stop it. If it decided to turn rogue, they coud be its unlucky victims.

She didn't have to tell Rei. She was already halfway down the corridor, almost out of sight, hiding behind an overfilled trash can.

"I have a bad feeling" Anji said, backing up slowly with Flein and Kirda. "It smells like death."

"I have the power to pull you into oblivion." Hiei was saying, smiling at his speechless victim. "I assume just my right arm will do."

Flein crouched down and put a barrier around her team again, in preparation for the worst. It was almost time.

"You should never have insulted the Jagan eye." A dark mist was circling around Hiei, taunting, teasing, leaving Zeru in a motionless stance. "Because you see . . in a way it has its own mind and _loathes_ disrespect." His eyes, all three of them, locked onto his opponent, for the last time. "Resisting it is not something I would do."

For the first time, real fear hung over Zeru like a heavy sheet, and he sat there unable to move, blocking himself with his arms in front of him uselessly. Hiei drew his trembling arm back, unable to hold the dragon any longer.

"_Dragon of the Darkness Flame!_"

A fiery black dragon emerged from the palm of his right hand, shooting out toward Zeru with incredible speed and power. The dragon hitting its target was like experiencing an earthquake and a tornado at the same time- Flein and her teammates were knocked off their feet, her barrier disappearing into thin air when the back of her head collided with the edge of a table. Part of her leg landed on Gaou's arm, and she could feel Kirda gripping her shoulder like a steel clamp. The wind tunneled through the corridors and tore at their clothes, and Flein thought her hair was going to be ripped right off of her skull. For a few minutes all she could hear was roaring, and then silence.

"_I'm deaf_." she thought, gripping onto the leg of the table, which was the cause of the throbbing in the back of her head. "_That's it, I'm deaf_."

The wind slowly died down, Flein's blond hair falling in a tangled heap over her shoulders. Through a few strands, she could see Anji laying a few feet away, blown almost all the way down the corridor by the strong winds. Kirda's hands were still wrapped tightly around her shoulder, and Flein thought she might lose circulation in her arm any minute now.

"What the heck was _that_?!" Kirda spluttered, pulling strands from her own braid out of her mouth. Her grip finally loosened, and Flein slowly shook the feeling back into it.

"_Okay, I guess I'm not deaf._" she thought, relieved. Her chest felt cold against the dirty floor she was sprawled out on, and blushed when she realized her shirt was blown up in all the chaos. She lifted her body and quickly pulled it back down over her chest, glancing at Gaou from the side to make sure he hadn't noticed. She was lucky her small shirt wasn't blown off of her entirely. She probably had Kirda to thank for that.

"Anji, are you okay?!" Kirda yelled down the hall, cupping her hands to the side of her mouth. Anji pulled herself up off the ground, her hair practically a big purple bush framing her head. Her ponytail had come out sometime after the attack hit.

"I'm fine!" They could faintly hear her tiny voice carrying news of her condition. Rei was nowhere to be found. Flein found the trash can she was hiding behind overturned, and wondered if she had desperately stuffed herself inside of it.

"That's . . not possible . ." Gaou was already standing, his eyes fixed on the arena oustside.

"Well . . he's definitely out of the ring!" Flein heard Koto say. After a short pause, she enthusiastically cried, "Let's give it up for Hiei!"

No cheering followed her announcement. Yanking stray strands of hair out of her eyes, Flein rushed to stand next to Gaou, Kirda and Anji behind her. There against the wall of the stadium, soot lay splattered in the shape of a person- in this case, the deceased Zeru. After the dragon took him, there was absolutely nothing else left behind but an outline.

"So that's the darkness flame . ." Flein muttered under her breath, her eyes resting on Hiei, who was talking calmly to his teammates on the other side of the arena. It was as if he just did something as casual and mundane as drinking a cup of coffee in the morning. Flein looked down to see that, despite being blown back by the immensely strong winds, Hiei's white scarf still clung to her neck unscathed. "To control something like that . . it's amazing . ."

Never before had she ever really seen anyone else control fire as well as she did. Nobody else even presented a challenge for her when it came to a fire vs fire match. As far as she knew, she was the most skilled when it came to bending the flames to her will.

She would have to reorganize her thinking after seeing Hiei's match. Controlling the darkness flame was out of her league. Plus, who knew what else was in his list of possible attacks?

Suddenly, her desire to meet the members of Team Urameshi sharply increased. Things were about to get interesting.


	15. Chapter 15: A Warm-Up

Chapter 15: A Warm-Up

"Can't say I'm sorry to see Zeru go!"

Kirda was staring at the black shape of Zeru painted on the stadium wall, slowly and carefully re-braiding her tangled hair.

"Neither can I." Gaou said, looking at the last remaining evidence of his former teammate with contempt. "But now the only thing we can do is hope we never have to face the Urameshi Team ourselves. If that demon has the kind of power that can wipe out Zeru in one blow . ."

Flein turned her head away from him in an attempt to hide the rolling of her eyes. Zeru wasn't as powerful as Gaou was claiming him to be. But she couldn't deny that a fighter like Hiei would be a worthy opponent.

She turned her eyes back to the arena to find Chu attempting to crawl onto the fighting platform, failing, then finally stumbling into the center of the arena.

"Oh no." Kirda laughed, as Team Rokuyukai's leader pointed at the opposing team and started yelling insults that Flein couldn't make out. Her ears were still ringing from the Dragon of the Darkness Flame attack.

It wasn't a surprise to anyone that Chu was still smashed, even for his first fight in the Dark Tournament. At this point, Flein couldn't imagine the guy ever being sober. But despite his sorry state, there seemed to be difficulties in getting a member of the Urameshi Team to challenge him.

Just when Koto was starting to threaten to disqualify the human team, a red-coated young man jumped energetically onto the fighting platform, stretching his arms in anticipation.

"Isn't . . that the guy who was passed out?" Kirda asked, squinting at Chu's new opponent. Flein glanced back at the arena to confirm to herself that yes, this was the human on Team Urameshi who she had never seen conscious. Although it was hard to believe it was the same guy- now he was wide awake, stretching his limbs and looking eager for a fight.

Looking at the both of them, Flein honestly couldn't predict who would emerge victorious- the drunk, or the human who had been sleeping for the past 24 hours. She could usually say with certainty that a human would be no match for Chu, even in his drunken stupor. But there was something about this man's fighting energy and fearless expression that led her to believe he was more of a challenge than he looked. She hoped she was right- even though she had never met the guy, she wasn't looking forward to watching him get effortlessly beaten to death.

"Rei is gone." Anji said for the second time today. Flein's hand met her face.

"I thought she would have been back by now . ." Kirda said, looking behind her and down the corridor. Rei was a coward, but she had an extreme undeserved sense of pride. Normally she would be standing behind them by now, claiming she wasn't scared of the Darkness Flame, maybe even saying she could easily use it herself with a little practice. But she had disappeared sometime during Hiei's final attack and hadn't shown her face since.

Every cell in Flein's body screamed not to move. She was done searching for Rei for the day- no, a lifetime. But the fact that this was the last match of Team Rokuyukai VS Team Urameshi scared her- after this, it would be their turn, and they'd be missing a member.

Emitting a large and defeated sigh, Flein whirled around and faced the corridor behind her. "Come on, let's go find her." This was not how she wanted to prepare for their first fight.

The patter of their feet on the ground echoed against the corridor walls. Flein was trying to hurry- there was no telling how short Chu's match would be. If a human was involved, it could be a matter of minutes before the fight was finished. Along with searching for a flash of pink garments, or raven-colored hair, Flein was also searching for any trace of a clock on the wall. Was it close to 10AM? Past 10AM? She was beginning to think she should start investing in a watch.

They had checked the stadium entrance, the seating area, even the bathrooms- it would be just like Rei to be touching up her make-up at the last minute. So far, there was no evidence that she'd been anywhere. Flein silently dared anyone of the group to suggest splitting up- the last thing she wanted to do was lose _everyone_ in one go before the big moment.

"Where did she _go_? It's like she just disappeared!" Kirda exclaimed incredulously, trying to talk over the voices of the spectators. Every once in a while, they'd hear chanting from the audience sitting just above their heads- "Kill Yusuke, kill Yusuke, kill Yusuke"- as if it were the sound of the stadium's own heartbeat. By process of elimination, Flein could guess that the energetic human was Yusuke- and he wasn't a fan favorite. Flein glared at the ceiling and sneered at them from below. The unhonorable brutality of the lesser forms of her kind made her embarrassed.

"Maybe . . she found her way back . . to where we were standing before." Anji said breathlessly, revealing her skill in endurance. Luckily Flein didn't think running was a required skill in fighting- unless you wanted to be a coward.

"I say we ditch the girl." Gaou said abruptly, crossing his arms in annoyance. "We can take on anyone without her."

"You have no idea how much I want to do that right now." Flein replied, looking up to meet his eyes. "But we'll probably be disqualified if we go in there without five members." She didn't even want to _consider_ the option of trying to find a new member right now either.

Just as she was about to go off of Anji's idea and suggest returning back to where they started, a sharp scream cut through the endless chanting. Except it wasn't coming from the audience above them- it was coming from just behind the corner.

Flein had deja vu from her experience with the low-class demon in the alley. Beheading that woman's murderer seemed like decades ago. She couldn't help but think that if she hadn't sneaked down that dark alley back then, she might not have been here today.

"What was that?" Kirda asked, as the group was already moving toward the sound. Turning the corner didn't reveal a monster- instead, Flein saw a group of shady reptile-like demons in cloaks, grouped up in a semi-circle facing the wall with their backs toward them, as if blocking off something or someone.

"C'mon girlie," one of the scaly demons croaked. "How 'bout we have ourselves a little fun? I promise we won't dirty you up none- much." His ugly friends laughed a dry, scraping sound. The speaker- or what Flein assumed was the leader- stepped forward, unblocking their vision to what was trapped in the middle of the circle.

Flein heard Kirda gasp as she saw who it was- there stood Rei, cornered against the wall, looking at her assaulters with a mixture of fear and defiance. A large chunk of her pink dress was balled up tightly in her fist, and she was in the process of slowly lifting it up, revealing more and more of her long, thin legs.

"_Is she . . is she submitting to them?!_" Flein thought, already moving toward the group before Rei could lift the dress above her garter. No matter how much her ditzy companion annoyed her, the thought of Rei letting these creeps have their way with her disgusted Flein.

"Stop!" she shouted, kicking the closest reptile demon in the face, sending him sprawling out on the ground before her, blood spurting from his slitted nose. She didn't know whether she was shouting it to the sleazeballs or Rei.

The demons turned around to look at her in surprise. Unlike the rest of his gang, the leader reptile's grin only grew wider, looking Flein up and down before letting his gaze wander over Kirda and Anji. "Looks like we got ourselves more to play with, boys." The others looked at their leader's smile, realized he had it under control, and turned to smile at the demon girls. "Kill the man, take the girls."

The group pounced all at once, their long, scaly tails curling behind them. Flein spread her fingers and licked her lips. Not even bothering with her barrier, she sank her claws into the unfortunate lizard who charged at her, before lighting them alight with her fire and burning him from the inside. His last scream sounded like someone trying to start up an old, rusty chainsaw. Kicking him off, she turned to the other demon beside her who had his sharp teeth aimed toward her flesh. A swift kick to the stomach caused him to go reeling into the demon behind him, before she set them both in flames. They ran blindly in any direction away from her, screaming in pain as the fire melted their skin, their gang members trying to dodge the dangerous running flames. She decided to be nice and not coax the wind's help, which would inevitably cause all of the demons to catch on fire.

Beside her, Kirda was pushing back her own attackers with powerful streams of water, careful not to hit any of Flein's victims which would accidentally save their lives. The demons spluttered and gasped before falling onto the floor. Before they had the chance to consider retreating, Anji used the soaked demons to conduct strong electric attacks, frying them on the spot, along with any other demons who had the misfortune of standing in Kirda's puddles of water.

Even Rei had pulled out two bladed fans from the black belt around her dress, and was attempting to cut down anyone who remembered she was there and got too close. Now that she wasn't seriously outnumbered, her ability to defend herself increased, and she was able to pull her own weight in the chaos.

After only a few minutes, most of the reptile gang lay charred on the floor, while the lucky few who survived the battle retreated, holding their bleeding wounds. The gang's leader stood motionless in the midst of his dead friends, looking down at them with his mouth gaping open.

"You should run." Flein advised, flicking droplets of blood off of her claws and letting them splatter on the wall behind her. She didn't have to say it twice. The mighty leader ran down the hall after the other survivors, screaming at the top of his lungs. His hat flew off his head and lay on the ground behind him, forgotten.

"Well . . that was . ." Rei began, but then trailed off when she saw the rest of her team looking at her with contempt. She folded her fans casually and stuck them back in her belt, avoiding eye contact.

"No no, continue, I'd like to know what the hell that was." Flein prodded her, her hands on her hips.

"Well, after I was blown away by that attack," Rei started, examining the scattered blood stains on her dress. "I got turned around somehow and didn't know where I was. I tried to find you guys, but I got lost. And then these guys started following me . ." Flein resisted rolling her eyes again and crossed her arms. She could believe Rei getting lost, but the attack shouldn't have blown her that far away. It was more likely that she just started booking it in a random direction when the attack hit, afraid it would somehow worm its way through the corridors and aim for her instead.

Before Flein could call her out on her bullshit, Rei continued. "Before I knew it, they were all surrounding me, and there were too many of them for me to fight off. And then you guys came!" she finished, gesturing in front of her to her team. The other girls just stood there and stared at her in doubtful silence, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. Realizing her story wasn't receiving the pitiful and admirable glances she wanted, she desperately grabbed for another excuse. "It's hard being pretty, okay?!"

"You're lucky we saved your ass." Kirda said, ignoring her last comment. "Looks like you were about to give them a show too."

"What?" Rei said stupidly, trying so hard to appear unaware of what Kirda meant and failing miserably at it.

"You were lifting up your dress." Flein said, tired of beating around the bush. "Thought maybe you gave up."

Rei simply said, "I don't remember that." and started walking past them, without looking back at her friends' faces. "Is it our turn yet?"

"The arena's this way." Flein said with exasperation, pointing in the opposite direction. "And it should be our turn soon." The group followed Flein's lead, Rei tagging along behind them in sulky silence. "Oh, and by the way . ." Flein said, stopping and turning back to look into Rei's brown eyes. "If you stray away again when you're not supposed to . . I'll kill you myself."

Flein turned back around and calmly continued toward the arena, leaving Rei behind them in frozen shock for a few seconds, before she recovered and hurried to catch up with them.

The arena entrance was in sight- Flein could see Chu and a shirtless Yusuke standing on the fighting platform, which seemed so bright now that she had been inside of the stadium walls for a while. Chu and Yusuke were punching each other relentlessly, fighting so close to each other their knees almost touched. Neither one of them was falling.

"_What do you know_," Flein thought, staring at the human that Chu was towering over, who seemed to be having the time of his life. "_He's still alive_."

The smell hit her just seconds before its source collided into her back, almost knocking her over. The brown-haired girl stopped for only a moment before continuing past them, without a word of regret. Her arm never left her face, and Flein thought she could hear sobbing coming from behind it.

A human.

She ran straight out into the arena, colliding again into the orange-haired Team Urameshi member's back. He grabbed onto her shoulders to hold the hysterical girl still, while Flein could see her pleading with him, tears in her eyes.

"Guess she knows them." Kirda commented, shrugging. From this angle, they had a perfect view of Team Urameshi's side of the arena. Flein wondered if she'd be entering from this side, or if Team Gorenja would be heading here. For some reason she could feel her hair standing on end just thinking about encountering the team she'd be fighting.

"Do all humans know each other?" Anji asked, scratching her head.

"No!" Kirda said amused. "But they _do_ all bump into each other without saying sorry."

"That's one of the humans that was with Koenma." Flein said her half-brother's name with venom in her voice. That was the second time she saw one of Koenma's trophy girls hanging out with Team Urameshi. There had to be some sort of connection. He had to have a hand in this somehow. Whether it was to cause the team to win, or joyfully watch them squirm as they lose.

Flein and her companions moved closer to the entrance of the arena, staring out onto the heated battle going on on the arena. Now that she had a closer view, she could see that there were knives stuck deep into the platform floor, right behind Chu and Yusuke's upraised feet. Any false move on the combatants' part, they would have a knife digging into their heel. Koto wasn't lying when she said the teams could make up their own rules.

Suddenly, Chu and Yusuke stopped punching each other, only to rear back and use the last of their strength to smack their foreheads into each other as hard as they could. Simultaneously, a bolt of lighting struck the inside of the stadium, but the fighters didn't budge from their position.

"Ah! I can feel the charge." Anji said, her body shuddering in delight. The arena was silent for a few moments. Finally, Chu collapsed heavily onto the floor, creating a crater underneath his large head.

Koto started the countdown, but Flein knew he wasn't getting up. Despite all odds, Yusuke was victorious.

His orange-haired friend jumped in delight and ran onto the fighting platform, punching the air happily with his fists.

"I can't believe it. Chu lost?!" Kirda said, looking at the blue-haired man lying motionless on the concrete floor. "That human's gotta have the hardest head in the world!"

"Don't worry. Chu's all right." Flein assured Kirda before she could ask. "I think it would take more than that to put him down for long." As if on cue, Chu sat up, looking up at his human opponent with respect. Rinku was by his side, his little stature only coming up to Chu's shoulder, even when the larger man was sitting down. After a good-hearted conversation, Yusuke and his human friend put their arms around each other and walked off the fighting platform victorious. Booing and insults were thrown at them from an outraged and unsatisfied audience.

"Geez, people!" Kirda exclaimed, glaring at the audience members from her position. "He won, get over it!"

"I don't think it's that." Flein said, ashamed of her lower-class demon counterparts. "Regardless of who won, they're angry because someone didn't die."

"I'm glad Chu didn't die!" Anji interjected defensively in the spectators' direction. "More fights should end with the participants respecting each other like this!"

"Not likely, sister." Gaou retorted. "This was merely a fluke. The Dark Tournament exists for blood. And if you keep thinking like that, you'll never win." Anji grew silent, looking down at her feet.

A loud voice suddenly boomed across the stadium, causing all of the audience members to cease their screaming immediately: "SHUT UUUUUUUUUUP!"

Flein's eyes widened and she looked at Yusuke, surprised that such an ear-shattering yell could come from such a small human.

"If you idiots got somethin' to say, say it! But say it to my face, or else say it to my fist!" he yelled, holding up his balled-up fist for all to see. Not even one of the numerous demons in the audience uttered a peep. After a few moments of eerie silence, Yusuke smiled and held up his middle finger proudly, before walking toward the arena entrance Team Musakui was standing beside.

Flein and the others moved out of the way wordlessly, Kirda attempting to stifle giggles caused by Yusuke's sudden outburst. The stench of humans entered Flein's nostrils as Team Urameshi began to walk casually past them, not giving them a second glance.

"Good job!" Kirda laughingly said, holding her hand up in the air for Yusuke to see. Flein had to push down the second-hand embarrassment that was rising up in her stomach. She could never just initiate contact with strangers like that.

However, Yusuke just grinned jovially and said, "Hey, thanks!", smacking Kirda's hand hard before continuing past them. Flein saw Kirda rub her red palm soothingly before sticking it in her pocket. The guy didn't hold back, not even in greetings.

"Whoa, a team of girls!" the orange-haired human cried, stopping short in front of them and giving them a stupid grin.

Before Flein could reply, the blue-haired woman behind him- the same one that had been hanging out with her half-brother earlier- looked at her human companion with annoyance and griped, "Go on, Kuwabara, don't bother them!", pushing him forward before turning to Flein and saying, "Please excuse my friend!" She laughed awkwardly behind her hand and pushed the protesting Kuwabara forward. Flein had tried desperately to meet her eyes, as if to convey something to her. She wondered if the fact that she didn't recognize who Flein was meant that Koenma wasn't searching for her.

The red-haired demon, who had turned Roto into a flower garden, walked cooly past them, scanning his green eyes over them in observation again before looking forward and calmly following his friends. Hiei was behind him and didn't even give any of them a passing glance at all, preferring to look at the ground in contemplation instead. However, his red eyes did rise when he spotted Flein in his peripheral vision, and he stopped abruptly in front of her.

Flein didn't know why he stopped, but she wanted to use this opportunity to say something. Perhaps "Good job" or "Awesome technique", or "Hope to see you in the battle field". He had impressed her so much with his fight today, she thought he deserved at least a little encouragement. But she found herself not being able to say anything at all. Everything just seemed inadequate.

Before long, she realized he wasn't looking into her eyes. Instead, his gaze was fixed on her chest and a hint of confusion showed on his face for a split second before he quickly turned his eyes to the ground again and kept walking.

"_Did . . did he just look at my breasts?!_" she thought incredulously. This kind of phenomenon wasn't new to her- demons were a skeevy bunch. But for some reason, she wasn't expecting it from him.

She instinctively looked down at her chest, only to find something white wrapped around her neck, the long cloth falling over her chest. Hiei's scarf. She forgot she was wearing it again.

"_Oops_." she thought, blushing. She wondered if he knew it was his scarf, or perhaps he'd reached the conclusion that she had one exactly like it. In any case, now she felt stupid for not giving it back when she had the chance.

"And now, I hope you're ready for the next fight!" Koto was saying into her microphone, Team Urameshi disappearing around the corner. "I can only guess that it'll be just as exciting as the last one!" The team recovered from their long period of suprised silence, and now was roaring for fresh blood.

Flein's heart pounded loudly in her chest. Now it was the time. She led her group out into the arena, the morning sun causing her eyes to squint.

"Give it up for Team Musakui and Team Gorenja!"


	16. Chapter 16: A Splitting Headache

A shout out to Jerm: Thank you for the awesome review! I screamed when I saw it =P Flein and Kirda thank you too!

Reviews and criticisms are still encouraged and welcome! Thank you to everyone who has been reading!

Chapter 16: A Splitting Headache

The arena was a lot larger than Flein originally thought it was. From the stadium seats, it seems as though the grassy perimeter around the fighting platform couldn't be bigger than 10 feet wide. However, walking across the grass to the edge of the platform seemed to take an eternity.

Flein acknowledged to herself that it was also possible that her extreme anxiety was causing time to slow down. Her heart was beating so hard it seemed to want to tear out of her chest and hop away in the opposite direction. She didn't know where she should be looking- The ground? The audience? Koto? She was suddenly aware of the thousands of screaming people looking at her. What were they thinking about her team? About her? Flein couldn't help but think they were probably betting on their loss.

After a decade of hearing her and her team's feet walk across the soft grass, they finally made it to the edge of the fighting platform. At this point, Flein encountered another problem- even though one wouldn't be able to tell from the stadium seats above the arena, the fighting platform was most likely the tallest piece of concrete she had ever had to climb. Facing toward it, she could estimate that the top of the platform came to about her shoulders- and there were no stairs as an alternate option, not that she would embarrass herself by resorting to use them. It was a wonder that anyone shorter than 5 feet could climb it at all. Now she wished she'd been present for Rinku's match- she would have liked to know how the child had managed to scale it.

Trying not to falter, Flein attempted to confidently use her arms to lift her body onto the platform. Placing her palms flat against the hard surface, she willed her biceps to bear all her weight, using her right foot to smoothly lift herself the rest of the way into a standing position. There was a terrifying moment where she lost a bit of her balance and thought she was going to go reeling backwards, landing on her back in the grass below. But the moment passed, and she swallowed all of her fear in an attempt to appear strong when walking toward the center of the arena where Koto was standing.

A few steps later, Flein realized she couldn't hear her team following behind her. Her heart skipped a beat, and she risked a glance behind her, afraid of what she might find her team doing- whether it was waiting in the grass and leaving her to meet their opponents by herself, or just plain running away in fear.

Instead she found Kirda halfway onto the platform, her arms spread out in front of her, her fingers gripping tightly to the concrete underneath them. She was frantically kicking her legs on the sides, trying to scramble her way up next to Flein. Flein barely had enough time to think before Kirda's fingers slipped and she toppled off of the side of the stage, acting out the cat demon's own fear from moments ago.

"Woops!" she laughed, grabbing onto Anji's outstretched hand and lifting herself up again. "This thing is _tall_!" It couldn't be helped- Flein leaned down and held out both of her hands to her teammates, waiting patiently. She tried to ignore the cackling from the audience around them.

"Go back home to your sewing needles, ladies!" she could hear distantly from her left. "Wouldn't want ya to break your nails!" Flein gritted her teeth and lifted Kirda onto the platform, and then Anji and Rei. Reminding herself that she would prove them all wrong in a few moments made her feel calm enough not to scream at the audience like Yusuke.

After Gaou climbed onto the fighting platform with the ease of an overgrown gorilla, Flein guided Team Musakui to Koto's side in the center of the stage. Their opponent was already there and waiting for them- Flein hoped they hadn't been standing there waiting for a good few minutes. She could only take so much embarrassment in a day, and she hadn't even seen Rei fight yet.

Team Gorenja was a colorful group- the team leader, who had spiky black hair and a large, round scar surrounding his left eye, was clad in red while each of his teammates wore their own colors- pink, green, yellow, and blue being among them. Flein noticed that this was the group in which she had seen the only other female competitor. Her bright pink clothes matched the color of her wavy hair, which was pulled up tight in a high ponytail. The look in her slanted eyes was fierce with determination. Flein couldn't help but wonder if she was pissed off with all of the blatant sexism displayed around them as well.

"I hope you are prepared for a quick defeat." Team Gorenja's leader said with cold confidence, staring staight into Flein's green eyes. She realized for the first time that her position among her team, along with being the only one who helped her teammates onto the platform, might have made others have the impression that she was the team leader. She had to resist the urge to step back behind Kirda and lurk on the sidelines. She didn't like the idea of being held responsible for her whole team.

Before she could come up with a witty comeback, the pink-clad female turned her head to her leader with a frown. "Don't get worked up already, Akarenjya. Save your energy." Akarenjya gritted his teeth and turned his gaze to the ground with a grunt, but heeded her advice and no longer glared at Flein. Flein had a feeling that his female companion might have more control over the team than the leader did himself.

"All right, teams!" Koto said excitedly, observing Team Musakui before turning and glancing at Team Gorenja as well. "Decide on any match rules and choose your first opponents, then let's get this show on the road!"

"A one-on-one match would be suitable." Akarenjya told Koto before anyone on Team Musakui could even open their mouth. "It would draw out an otherwise boring and quick fight." The sole female on the team turned a sharp glance to her leader once again, causing Akarenjya to glare defiantly at his own feet.

"Okay, a one-on-one match it is! Choose your first fighters and let's get this started!" Koto said the last four words as if she were about to break open a bottle of champagne and have the longest bachelorette party of her life. Flein turned around to face her team with questioning eyes, only to have her gaze met with more inquisitive expressions. She was confident in her own abilities, but suddenly she was reluctant to go first, and she was prepared to ask for any volunteers. If possible, she liked to observe her opponents before striking.

Flein was spared the option of pleading with her team when Gaou stepped forward. "I'll go first." he said with a cocky smile. "I've been looking forward to breaking bones all day." She silently thanked her rather large teammate and followed her companions to the grassy area outside of the arena, trying not trip off of the platform. Behind her, she could hear Team Gorenja whispering vehemently among themselves. Before the opposing team could reach a consensus, a one-eyed man about Gaou's height and size stepped forward from the back, his yellow cape indicating his corresponding team color.

"I'll take this first guy." he said, reaching a bulky arm behind him and gripping the large axe strapped to his back. "He looks like a pushover." Gaou just glared at his new opponent and uncrossed his arms.

"Looks like the first match between Team Musakui and Team Gorenja will be Gaou VS Kirenjya!" Koto cried, holding her hand poised in the air. The electronic scoreboard behind her changed, revealing Gaou and Kirenjya's names, their pictures displayed above them.

"_I don't remember having to take pictures for that . ._" Flein thought, looking up at the board from her position beside the fighting platform. She hoped that if they were going to sneak hidden pictures of them on a scoreboard for all to see, that hers would at least be flattering.

"Ready!" Koto said into the microphone, looking at Gaou and Kirenjya for a brief confirmation. Their only response was to spread their legs into a fighting stance, never taking their eyes off of each other. "Begin!"

The two men were uncannily similar. Both of them had to at least be 6'5" tall, with a bulky build. Each had short hair, a cocky personality, and both even had the same dark skin tone. The main difference between the two wasn't just the number of eyes that they had- but the fact that Kirenjya had a giant axe as a weapon, and Gaou had nothing to fight with but his fists.

This might have been the reason why the match was one of the shortest in the Dark Tournament's history.

Not wanting to give his opponent a chance to attack, Kirenjya took two quick, giant steps forward, simultaneously swinging his heavy axe around him in a circular motion. Gaou's body tensed in preparation, ready to leap over the sharp weapon and use the attack as an opening to gain the first strike. Perhaps he underestimated his weight- his jump was a clumsy one, and this mistake caused Kirenjya's axe to be embedded in the back of Gaou's knees.

Team Musakui's only male team member screamed in pain, falling to the ground, dark green blood gushing over his pant legs and onto the fighting platform behind him. Kirenjya was already swinging his bloody axe above his head, preparing for another strike.

"And Kirenjya's landed the first hit!" Koto cried, now a good distance away from the axe's range. "It looks like Gaou has already been majorly handicapped! Can he recover in time?!" The spectators were screaming in delight, watching Gaou's blood pool around his knees.

The fox announcer didn't have to wonder for long. Flein could see Gaou's demise coming moments before the final strike. Kirenjya's axe swung down hard onto the top of the large demon's head, splitting his skull into two. Gaou's scream cut short and turned into a gurgle, before he finally went silent. His body grew limp and hung from Kirenjya's axe like a dangling piñata, before his opponent lifted his foot and placed it on top of Gaou's shaggy hair, slowly pushing his skull off of his weapon. Gaou's body landed with a _thud_ on the fighting platform, green blood now gushing from the large crack in his skull as well.

The audience's screams should have been deafening, but everything suddenly seemed muted to Flein, like a nightmare that was slow to end. She wasn't exactly surprised that Gaou went down so quickly- he always seemed to exude more confidence than skill. But the fact that she was talking to her teammate only moments before and now she would no longer see him alive again- it all happened so fast that she had an urge to rewind time.

"Awesome!" Koto yelled in exaltation, pumping her fist into the air. "Kirenjya has sliced Gaou's head wide open! Do I even need to start counting?!" Kirenjya just smiled, bringing his axe above him and wresting it on his shoulder. Koto scampered to his free hand and lifted his hefty arm high above her head. "Well, that was a fast one, but there's no doubt about it, people! Kirenjya's the winner!"

"Well, _that_ didn't last long!" said Kirda beside her.

This time the roaring from the spectators hurt Flein's ears, and her black tail swung rapidly in frustration. Things were already not going well. She thought she could hear more jeering from the audience members behind her.

"Ooooh no. No no no no." Flein turned around to see Rei backing away from the arena, her eyes locked onto Gaou's lifeless and bleeding body. Her back hit the stadium wall behind her. "No no no no, I can't do this." Tears were forming in her brown eyes, and she kept glancing fervently behind her to the stadium entrance.

Hot rage suddenly boiled up inside of Flein, and without thinking about it, she was stomping toward Rei and grabbing her by the lacy collar of her dress, yanking her up until she was inches in front of her face. "Don't you _dare_ run out on us now." she spat at her, undeterred by the look of fear in Rei's eyes. "_Don't you dare_. If you make me have to find _two_ new replacement members for this team, _I will chase you down_." Rei didn't say anything in response. She simply nodded, her nose almost touching Flein's. Flein released her, causing Rei to stumble clumsily onto the grass.

"Um, hello? Team Musakui, we need another fighter up here!" Koto said from the edge of the fighting platform, leaning toward them and tapping her microphone impatiently on her shoulder. Flein whirled around, embarrassed that her quarrel with Rei was now the center of attention. She could see Kirenjya standing in the middle of the platform behind Koto, grinning at Team Musakui as a challenge. Even farther behind him, Flein could make out Akarenjya and his female companion whispering to each other, staring directly at her and Rei.

"Um, just a second!" Flein assured the fox-tailed announcer, before turning to Anji and Kirda. "Want me to handle this one?" If this guy's strength was the speed of his axe, she thought she could beat him when it came to dodging.

"No, I wanna beat this guy!" Kirda said, running to the edge of the fighting platform and attempting to clumsily climb her way up again. Flein raised her eyebrows in surprise. "If he thinks he can just beat one of our team members and smile about it, I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Koto spun her microphone skillfully in her hand before raising it to her lips. "Looks like Team Musakui's Kirda is stepping up to take on Kirenjya next! Will she be able to fare better than her former teammate?!"

"_I hope so . ._" Flein thought, her heart in her throat. She watched her friend run to the center of the stage, her braid swinging in the air behind her. She realized that watching Gaou fight didn't worry her near as much as watching Kirda take on a foe. It wasn't only that she didn't know if her skill could match Kirenjya's, but when she imagined losing Kirda, she already felt a feeling of loneliness.

Flein gazed at Kirda's back, as Koto made her way back between the two new opponents. "Next match is Team Musakui's Kirda VS Team Gorenja's Kirenjya! Ready?!" Koto's hand raised into the air again. Flein thought she could see Kirda stiffen, and the water demon spread her fingers out instead of clenching them into fists.

"_Please don't die too . _." Flein thought, before Koto threw her hand down between Kirda and her large enemy.

"Begin!"


	17. Chapter 17: A Flowing Dance

Chapter 17: A Flowing Dance

Kirenjya's sheer size made Kirda look like a dwarf in comparison. It had only been a few seconds since Koto had initiated the battle when he lifted his axe in the air again, poised high above Kirda's head.

"_Move!_" Flein thought, her fingernails digging into the palm of her hand. Kirda was already moving before Flein could vocalize her thought. The immense axe crashed into the stadium floor, taking a chunk of concrete with it. Kirda glided smoothly out of the way of the attack, her black braid swirling around behind her. Her dodging reminded Flein of dancing.

"Ah, so you're going to be a _tricky _one, eh?" Kirda's bulky opponent pried his axe out of the ground with a grunt and rested it on his shoulder, turning toward her with a smile. "Next time I'll chop off that pretty little braid of yours."

Placing her hands on her hips, Kirda simply smiled. "Like _hell_ you will!" She lifted up her arm and pointed her palm toward Kirenjya, a jet of water rushing forward and splashing forcefully into his face in a matter of seconds. Her axe-wielding opponent choked and dropped his weapon, the gigantic piece of metal crashing loudly onto the concrete below. He spluttered and wiped at his face, glaring at the water demon from between his thick fingers.

"And it looks like Team Musakui's Kirda has gotten in the first hit!" Koto informed the hollering audience through her microphone. "Is this a sign that Kirenjya's short winning streak is over?!"

"I don't _think_ so." Kirenjya growled, bending down to pick his axe up from the ground. His braided opponent still stood across from him with her hands on her hips, waiting for his next move with a sly smile on her face.

After a few moments of silent contemplation, Kirenjya started circling the girl, the pupil in his one eye skittering around over her form. His muscular arms held his axe high in the air, as if ready to swing it down at any moment.

"He's planning something." Flein said to Anji, who was standing quietly beside her. She could tell that her friend's muscles were tense with anxiety. Every once in a while, Flein would glance quickly over her shoulder to see if Rei was still behind them, only to find her scrutinizing her polished nails impatiently for the seventh time. Despite making an effort to appear uncaring, Flein could tell her teammate was desperately trying to hide her fear.

Flein's attention was brought back to the arena when Kirenjya's heavy stomping echoed throughout the dome walls. He was dashing toward Kirda, axe gleaming above his head. At first it seemed like Kirda had decided not to move at all, but then she began charging as well, as if planning to meet his attack head-on.

"The might not end well." Flein said, gritting her teeth. Her hands were grasping the edge of the fighting platform earnestly now, her knuckles turning white. She could easily picture the axe swinging through Kirda's skull like butter. She had an urge to shut her eyes tightly, but felt obligated not to miss a moment.

Suddenly Kirda was gone, her opponent's axe cutting through the empty air. Kirenjya stumbled clumsily forward, struggling with the force of his own swing. At first it seemed like the heavy axe would fly out of his grasp, most likely to be sent spinning toward the audience and decapitating an innocent spectator. But the huge man was quickly able to regain his footing, staring incredulously at the vacant space in front of him with axe still in hand. "What?!" he cried, his eye bulging out of its socket.

Scanning the arena and not finding her comrade, Flein thought that perhaps Kirda had some sort of invisibility power that she was not aware of. Then her eyes landed on the platform floor- there she found her friend laying face-down on the concrete, her arms and legs sprawled out underneath her. "_Oh god_." Flein thought, her hands involuntarily rising up to cover her mouth. "_Please don't be dead_." It was entirely possible that Kirenjya's axe had sliced her midrun, its owner too dense to realize what had just occurred. Flein stood on her toes to peer over the fighting platform, searching for any sign of red flowing underneath Kirda.

"Oh wow, I don't exactly know what happened, but Kirda is down, people!" Koto cried, blinking her eyes at Kirda's motionless form. Kirenjya just turned around, staring at the girl on the floor before gazing at his weapon in confusion. Gaou's dark green blood was starting to dry, but otherwise there were no other colors painted on the stained metal. "I don't think I've seen enough action to even _want _to start counting, but a fight is a fight, no matter how short and unsatisfying it is!"

The audience was restless now, the exhiliration from Gaou's death having worn out by this point. Flein was still squinting her eyes at her companion on the ground, when she began to see the slightest movement. Kirda's back was rising slowly up and down, up and down, up and down.

Just as she was starting to hope it wasn't a trick of the eye, a muted mumbling sound came from her friend's body. "Ow . ." Kirda's head lifted up slowly, an expression of embarrassed pain on her face. The audience fell silent, both from surprise and also in preparation to assess the damage. All eyes were on the water demon as she braced her arms underneath her and laboriously pulled herself up to a sitting position, scratching the back of her head casually.

"I fell!"

It took all of Flein's strength not to fall down on the grass herself. Anji was giggling in relief beside her, her hand covering her mouth.

"Ummm, well those are some interesting dodging skills!" Koto said, regaining her hold on her microphone, which she'd almost dropped. She was feigning a polite voice, but her drooping fox ears revealed her exasperation. Behind her, the audience was shouting in indignation now, angry at the cheap and bloodless dodge. "Look at the bright side- at least we still have a chance to see a fantastic and gory kill! The match isn't over yet!"

Kirenjya's face was visibly red- whether it was from embarrassment or anger was unknown. He was gripping the handle of his axe tightly now, grinding the palms of his hands against the sturdy metal in frustration.

"Sorry 'bout that!" Kirda chirped, stumbling back onto her feet. "I can get a little clumsy!"

"You were lucky." The large man was breathing heavily now, his sole eye locked onto his opponent. "Next time, I won't miss." He didn't hesitate to start charging now- he launched toward Kirda before he even barely finished his sentence, his axe raised high in the air again. This time he was roaring the entire way to the girl, as if the sound of his own voice was going to power up his attack.

Kirda easily dodged swing after swing, one twirl flowing smoothly into another. Each time she easily danced her way to safety only made Kirenjya's swings grow more and more desperate, until he was slashing at the air madly, growing more out of breath by the second.

"Just hit the girl!" the audience members were screaming impatiently from the stadium seats. "It can't be _that_ hard to hit a woman!"

Exhausted, Kirenjya swung his axe with all of his strength one final time, an attack so slow that Kirda barely had to move. The axe embedded itself in the concrete below, its owner leaning over it breathlessly. For a while he didn't speak or look at his opponent, attempting to catch his breath.

"You okay?" Kirda said laughingly, arching her eyebrow. She sprayed a stream of water playfully at his back, almost knocking the tired man completely off his feet. He whirled around to flash her a look that might have stabbed Kirda in the heart if an expression had power. This was a man who had reached his limit of shame and embarrassment for a lifetime.

His mouth opened, and at first it looked like he would spit words of poison. But then his eye widened, and he suddenly stopped, as if coming to a realization. Then he threw his head back violently, and bursts of loud laughter tumbled out of his mouth like animals who had been released out of a small cage. He held his stomach as if in pain, a single tear of laughter streaming down from his one eye.

The audience was shocked into silence again, making Kirenjya's thunderous laughter the loudest noise in the stadium.

"What? Now Kirenjya's . . laughing?" the fox announcer asked, her eyes focusing on the muscular contestant who was now doubled-over. "Has he finally gone nuts?"

Kirda was smiling tentatively, but her eyebrows were turned up in confusion. Flein knew it was too much to hope that perhaps Kirenjya decided that his opponent was hilarious and wanted to be her best friend.

"I should have realized it sooner . ." Kirenjya gasped, recovering from his laughing outburst. "Sure, you're a fast one . . but you can't actually _kill_ anyone, can you?"

A moment of silence spread over the stadium like a cold sheet of ice, Kirenjya's comment being turned over slowly in everyone's heads.

After only being met with Kirda's confused expression from before, Kirenjya continued. "Those water attacks of yours- it's a pretty act you're playing, but you're not fooling anyone. You can drench me, you can knock me off my feet, but none of that's going to _kill _me. Don't you see? Your powers are _useless_!"

A low murmering started to spread over the audience. Flein gulped. She remembered the first moments she met Kirda, fighting for a chance to compete in the tournament on that tiny boat. The water demon had drowned the lower classed demons, but most of them she had carried out to the sea around her, smothering them underneath its icy depths. Now without a sea surrounding them, was it possible to kill a slightly stronger demon like Kirenjya? Without some sort of enclosed space she could trap him in and fill up with water, Flein couldn't think of a way Kirda could possibly drown her opponent.

She made a mental note to invest in a weapon for her cheery friend- _if_ she survived this battle.

"You can knock me down over and over again . ." Kirenjya said, yanking his axe up out of the ground with new confidence. "But I'll still keep getting back up. And _you _can only dodge for so long." With that thought in mind, he put one foot in front of him, tensing his legs. He was about to charge at Kirda again, with renewed energy.

Kirda simply smiled- this time it was a genuine one. "You do know that you're _made_ of water, right?"

Kirenjya stood up a little straighter, an expression of confusion now covering his face. "What, is that supposed to _stop _me?" he said, now smiling menacingly at the girl across from him. "Is this my cue to say 'Oh, what a clever girl you are, thank you for uncovering such a mystery about the importance of water! I will easily forfeit this battle now with a renewed appreciation for this nature's gift!'? News flash girlie: _Nothing_ you can say will stop me from slaughtering you where you stand!"

With the finality of those words still hanging in the air, Kirenjya charged ahead with a speed unlike one he had shown so far. Kirda only sighed, looking down at her feet with an expression similar to regret.

"She better not be giving up!" The yell coming from Flein's throat was louder than she had intended. Her muscles were tight like a coiled spring. She wasn't prepared to watch her friend die- especially not like this. "KIRDA!"

A hand jerked up, and Kirenjya stopped in his tracks so suddenly that it was like someone had taken a remote and paused the stadium. With all of the cyclop's immense weight, there was no reasonable way he could have made a full stop with the speed he was going- yet there he was, frozen mid-stride.

"I don't usually like to do this . . I always felt like it's cheating." Kirda was saying, her arm raised and pointed straight toward her opponent, her palm facing him in a strict "stop" gesture. Flein hadn't even seen her hand rise- it seemed to have all happened simultaneously. "But _you're_ the one who questioned my powers. And I don't like being underestimated!"

Kirenjya was moving now, but in a strange and unnatural way. His movements were slow, deliberate. With both hands holding the axe just below the blade, he wordlessly lifted his weapon high above his head- but the sharp metal was no longer pointed toward Kirda.

"It looks like Kirda's words have inspired Kirenjya to try out a new strategy!" Koto informed the audience, the microphone almost touching her lips. "What trick does he have up his sleeve?! He's not telling a soul! The suspense is killing me!"

It was then that Flein's delicate ears picked up a sound just barely audible within all of the noises coming from the audience. It was like a low humming noise- no, more like a murmering. She would have usually disregarded it as spectators talking amongst themselves, but this mumbling had a sense of urgency to it- it was not unlike the muted noise that would come from a person who was tied up in a bag, their mouth sealed shut with tape.

"Do you hear that?" Anji said, her dark purple ears rotating slowly on her head, attempting to find the source of the noise.

"It's coming from the arena." Flein told her, her eyes falling on Kirenjya. His mouth wasn't moving, but the sound was undeniably coming from him. A bead of sweat slowly trickled down the side of his face, and Flein now noticed the pupil of his eye was shaking slightly, but seemed unable to move from the sight of the sharp blade just inches from his face.

Then it hit her. It wasn't that he wasn't talking because he didn't want to reveal his new seemingly suicidal strategy- he wasn't talking because he literally couldn't.

Kirda didn't need the sea- _"You do know that you're made of water, right?"- _she was already surrounded by water. Unfortunately for Kirenjya, she could control every drop.

"Just know . ." Kirda said, raising her hand the air. Kirenjya's arms followed suit, the deadly axe positioned as far above his head as he could reach. Flein thought she could see his legs trembling, with every bit of control of his own body he had left. "You brought this on yourself."

Kirda swiftly swung her hand down, and the blade sunk its way into her opponent's face as if she had made the killing blow herself. The pitiful creature didn't even have the control to shut his own eye beforehand- the sharp metal sliced clean through the middle of his black pupil, the large sphere popping open like a cracked egg. Brown juices slid sloppily over his cheeks, and he finally dropped to his knees before falling face-first onto the ground below him. The force of his fall only shoved the weapon deeper into his skull, and a shiny tip of the blade poked through the black hair on the back of the demon's head, glimmering triumphantly for all to see.

"Ummmm . ." Koto stammered, scratching the back of one of her light brown ears. "Well, I'm waiting for something cool to happen, but I'm not seeing anything, guys! Perhaps if we wait a few minutes, he'll turn into a super powerful zombie?"

"You'll be waiting for a long time then!" Kirda laughed, already walking toward her teammates. There was a smile on her face, but her eyes were glued to the concrete under her feet.

"Huh?!" The fox demon looked at Kirda in confusion, before turning back to the mess on the ground. "Don't tell me he just copped out after all that suspense! Way to lead a girl on like that!"

Kirda hopped down beside Flein, brushing her braid off of her shoulder. "How long do you think it will take for these idiots to figure out what _really_ happened?" Flein asked her with a smile. It was her way of attempting to cheer her friend up- despite their win, she could tell that Kirda didn't have any pride in what she had done.

"I'd rather them not know, to be honest!" she replied. Even though Flein thought it was a shame to hide such a unique and powerful ability, she also considered it advantageous if her friend wasn't targeted by demons of all kinds- whether it be to challenge her, or to use her. Flein looked across the arena at the rest of Team Gorenja- Akarenjya and Momorenjya were staring knowingly at Kirda, talking quietly to each other. They weren't like their less intelligent counterparts who were roaring in protest in the audience now- they were fully aware what had happened to their teammate.

"Maybe at some point we can find you a weapon to use." Flein suggested, gesturing toward her own sword, which was hanging loosely from her belt loop. "That way you never have to resort to using that ability again if you don't want to."

Kirda gazed at the sheathed sword hanging from her friend's hip and nodded, becoming almost immediately lost in thought. Anji's eyes shone with admiration, and she seemed to want to say something to Kirda before apparently changing her mind and turning her eyes back to Koto, who was now needlessly counting to ten near Kirenjya's dead body. The disappointed announcer stubbornly didn't want to give up that something more interesting was going to happen- if only she had noticed the amazing move performed right in front of her earlier.

"You're lucky that guy just randomly offed himself like that." Flein almost jumped at the sound of Rei's voice behind her. She had started to forget the girl was even there. Rei had her arms crossed in front of her large breasts, and her bangs looked as if they had been nervously straightened out one too many times. She blinked and seemed to finally become aware of what she had said. "Not that I don't think you could have beaten him anyway!"

Flein, Kirda, and Anji exchanged exasperated glances before turning back to Koto, who was now finishing her count. Flein had to resist rolling her eyes in front of Rei, who seemed to be just as clueless as the audience members behind them.

"Ten! And it looks like Team Musakui's Kirda is the winner of this battle!" the fox announcer cried, looking around briefly for a hand to raise in the air, before finally noticing that Kirda had already returned to her teammates. A loud disappointed groan spread throughout the stadium like wildfire, and quick employees rushed to the stage to drag away Kirenjya's immense corpse. It only just occured to Flein that she didn't remember seeing Gaou's body disappearing. "This leaves us with a tie, 1-1! Anyone brave enough to break it?!"

A Team Gorenja member was already on the fighting platform, walking towards the center with a sharp-toothed sneer. He was the very definition of a low class demon- dark green skin, gnarled pointed ears, and large red eyes with no pupils. Every aspect of him screamed that he didn't belong on the team, yet there he was- most likely someone they picked up in order to make the 5 member requirement.

"Looks like Midorenjya has stepped up to the plate! Any takers, Team Musakui?"

Flein looked once again at her teammates. She wouldn't dare ask Kirda to fight again- although now that she knew of her ability, it was hard to resist asking if she could just make every enemy commit suicide. Just thinking of Rei fighting anything at all caused Flein to shake her head and turn to Anji, who was putting on a brave face but still looked as if she wanted to curl into a ball.

Flein stretched her muscles and sighed. She was hoping to fight some of Gorenja's stronger members, perhaps the leader. She would even settle for a good fight with Momorenjya. But every second of stalling only caused Team Musakui's reputation to drop.

She jumped onto the fighting platform- it was a little easier this time- without saying a word to her teammates. Perhaps if Midorenjya was as weak as he looked, she would still have enough energy left over to take on some of the stronger opponents.

"Go Flein! You can do it!" She heard Kirda hooting behind her, as she came closer and closer to the ugly goblin-like demon standing in the center of the platform.

"Okay! We have Team Musakui's Flein VS Team Gorenja's Midorenjya!" Koto announced, taking her usual position between the two fighters. Flein heard the scoreboard sound a sharp _bing, _and in the corner of her eye she saw her own picture displayed for all to see, along with Midorenjya's uglier counterpart. In her picture, it looked as if she had been caught in the middle of talking, her mouth half-open. She wondered if she looked that threatening all the time.

Before she could wonder when someone had taken a picture of her, Koto's voice cut through the air.

"Begin!"


	18. Chapter 18: Acid Bath

Chapter 18: Acid Bath

Flein's body subconsciously molded into her usual fighting pose at the sound of Koto's voice, her left hand instinctively groping for the handle of her sword. She had to fight off this habit- she didn't want to resort to using her sword quite yet. Instead, she put up her arms in front of her and curved her fingers, her claws positioned in a way that would cause the most damage. She tensed her body, and prepared to observe her opponent's movements.

"_Don't panic_." she thought, making a physical effort to breathe normally. In any other situation, not a single hair would rise on her neck by the sight of a demon like Midorenjya. But her ears could pick up every single slurred yell from the crowd, every angry utterance thrown in her direction. More than anything, she wanted to win. If not for her team, but to show everyone that they were stronger than they looked.

"I know that look on your face." Midorenjya rasped, blinking his bright red eyes. He rose both of his arms high above his head, and a sudden gust of wind almost knocked Flein off of her feet. She tore her blonde hair out of her face and kept her eyes locked on the short demon before her, who was now forming a pale green aura around his body. The wind was nothing compared to the storm the Dragon of the Darkness Flame created, but Flein still fought to stay on her feet. If she fell now, she may never get up again. "You think I'm the weak link, don't you?!"

Flein couldn't confirm or deny his statement. She simply held her arms crossed in front of her face, prepared to block any incoming attack that came her way. Her silent indifference only seemed to anger her opponent, who brought his hands in front of his chest and started to generate a static-like energy between the two palms of his hands.

"You should be scared." Midorenjya insisted, his body trembling with effort. The green aura swirled around him faster and faster, air turning around him like a miniature tornado. The static between his hands formed into a small green ball of murky energy.

"Midorenjya is powering up an attack, leaving Flein on the defensive!" Koto said, a few feet away from Flein. "I wonder what-" Her announcement was interrupted by loud gagging and a cough, as the fox demon doubled over at the waist. The smell hit Flein only a second after Koto's reaction, and suddenly this morning's breakfast was attempting to crawl back up her throat again.

The stench was most likely the worst Flein had ever experienced in her life, and probably the strongest on top of that. It was indescribable, perhaps only comparable to a mixture of dead skunk, rotten eggs, and feces- and that would be a compliment. No matter how much she wanted to focus on blocking, she couldn't help but hold both of her hands tightly over her nose.

Midorenjya grinned, seemingly proud of his disgusting accomplishment, the green orb of offensive energy growing in size. Flein could see acid dripping from the sphere, splashing on the ground below and leaving charred, steaming marks on the concrete. It only just occurred to her that she wouldn't be able to safely block the energy, just as it was released from Midorenjya's bony fingers.

The bright green orb hurtled at Flein faster than she expected, and she quickly jumped out of its range. The sphere continued to fly toward the audience members behind her, continuing to grow bigger and bigger in size until it finally collided and annhilated a chunk of the front row, leaving only ash with green steam drifting from it.

"What a surprise for section 7!" Koto cried, her voice dripping with delight. "The acidic blast melted them with _excruciating _pain! Make sure to get the home release for _that_ one, people!"

Flein was still crouched on the ground, having only just narrowly escaped definite disintegration. The shock of the sudden blast prevented her from realizing the small injury until now- a horrible burning sensation persisted at the end of her tail. When taking a closer look, she found the hairs missing from the tip of her black tail, leaving only a red scorched mark on the skin underneath it. The acidic sphere itself hadn't even touched her tail- it was merely the energy around it that had singed it so badly. Flein knew she wouldn't survive a direct hit. Midorenjya was a lower class demon, but she had to admit that now he had the opportunity to destroy her if she wasn't careful.

"Everybody's always underestimating me." Midorenjya sneered, almost as if he had read Flein's thoughts. "Right until the point when their _bones _start melting!" He erupted into laughter, another strong gust of wind gushing forth from his body, the green energy twirling around him once again. He was going to perform the same old trick- and this time, Flein was prepared for it. "Tell my other victims I said _hello_!"

The green sphere burst forth from his palms again, faster this time. Flein dodged out of the way well before the orb came near her, this time disintegrating the middle of section 9 of the stadium. Midorenjya was already powering up another ball of energy before Flein's feet even touched the ground. She saw her teammates from the corner of her eye- Kirda was holding her nose, never taking her eyes off of Flein. Anji was gagging, her tongue hanging out of her mouth in an almost amusing expression. Flein knew that if the smell was bad for her, then the smell had to be even worse for Anji's sensitive nose. Rei only had a look of slight disgust on her face.

Flein brought her eyes back to her opponent just in time to dodge another green blast of energy. She could feel the heat radiating from the sphere and onto her back- she wouldn't be able to keep jumping out of the way for much longer. She stood up and faced Midorenjya, her hand on the hilt of her sword. Now was the time to use it.

"I can relate to you." Flein said, causing Midorenjya to pause in his effort to create another energy ball. "I can understand always being underestimated, always being judged just for looking the way I do." She unsheathed her sword and held it in front of her, the blade gleaming in the sunlight. "Unfortunately for you . . I also have something to prove."

Flein was in front of him before he could even blink. The sword glided easily through the air, like a comfortable extension of her arm. In moments she was behind him, turning around and preparing for another attack.

"You think that's going to stop me?!" Midorenjya gasped, fear making his voice weak. He returned to his previous position, ready to make another energy ball, but stopped short when he realized the familiar gust of wind was not arriving. He grunted in frustration and tried again, taking one step forward. Then he heard an audible _squish_, and looked down at his feet in confusion. There, under his right shoe, lay a green and bony disembodied hand. His gaze finally turned to his own hands, only to realize one of them was missing, bright green blood pouring down his arm and blending in with his shirt.

His scream was slow and deep, making a unique chorus when combined with the excited shouts from the audience.

"Awesome!" Koto cried, bouncing excitedly up and down. "I didn't even see when it happened, but Flein has a sword and Midorenjya's missing a hand- and I'm loving it!"

"I'm guessing you can't attack with just _one_ of your hands, can you?" Flein said, a smile escaping her lips. She was ashamed to say that she liked to play around a little with her prey when she had the upper hand. It was a secret pleasure she tried to avoid acting upon often, lest she appear more sadistic than she is.

"A-aaaah! Please! I give up!" Midorenjya screamed, turning completely around and running toward his teammates, holding his stump close to his chest. The surviving audience members groaned again, having to endure one disappointment after another.

Flein frowned. This was not the outcome she was expecting. Every bone in her body urged her to chase after him, play with him some more. Running after prey was a delight she seldom got to savour. Instead, she sheathed her sword, and watched Midorenjya jump down from the platform and run past his teammates, who were glaring at him with cold eyes. It was a cheap win, but there was no honor in striking down an enemy who was already fleeing in fear. There were exceptions of course- but Flein doubted the short green demon would ever pose any threat to anyone ever again.

"And we get the Dark Tournament's first forfeit!" Koto announced, her ears drooping in disappointment. "Let's hope we see less and less of these, right?" The audience was in an uproar now, beer bottles and other objects being thrown down to the arena below in anger. Flein guessed that a severed hand wasn't enough to sate their bloodthirst.

"Due to Midorenjya's forfeit . ." Koto said, dodging a discarded soda can and lifting Flein's hand high into the air by the wrist. Her hand was thin and cold, and she smelled like old trees. "This win goes to Flein of Team Musakui!"

The barrage of trash didn't stop there, and Flein almost hustled over to her teammates when she remembered that she was planning to take on another challenger. Without even making a kill yet, she had more than enough energy to take on a stronger opponent. She looked over to her smiling teammates, nodded, and turned to face Team Gorenja.

"All right! It looks like the victor is ready to go another round!" Koto exclaimed happily before turning to the other side of the stadium. "Team Gorenja, can you redeem yourselves?"

The rest of Team Gorenja was holding a heated discussion amongst themselves, their eyes turning to Flein every once in a while, and sometimes even turning to her other teammates. They were most likely planning the best order in which to fight according to the team members Team Musakui had left over. Flein hoped they weren't saving their best for last- she didn't know if she would be able to fight until then, and she couldn't imagine her other teammates being pitted against them.

Finally, Akarenjya turned his gaze to the announcer, bringing up his hand and curling his finger toward her in a condescending "come here" gesture. Koto looked around before pointing at herself questioningly, Akarenjya nodding in confirmation. The fox girl scurried over to the last 3 members of Team Gorenja.

"Ummm, yes, do you have a question?" she asked into her microphone, slightly impatient. Flein strained her ears to hear what Akarenjya was saying, which was now inaudible without the benefit of Koto's tool. Flein hoped they weren't accusing her of breaking some sort of rule- she went over her last match in her head, trying to find any moment where she might have done something to disqualify her.

Just as she was beginning to wonder if it was perhaps Kirda's ability that might disqualify them, Koto's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Okay, so Team Gorenja is requesting a complete rule change- 3 VS 1. In other words, the rest of Team Gorenja pitted against just one member of Team Musakui. Does Team Musakui accept?"

Flein's heart leaped into her throat, and for a second she wasn't able to speak. All three of them against her? She knew she was fast, but even she wouldn't be able to handle three strong fighters at once- and she had no idea what kind of power these three had. She could be walking to her death.

"_I could just say no_." Flein thought. "_Our reputation might suffer a little but at least we'll have a chance_." She couldn't believe the cheapness of Team Gorenja's request- as soon as they realized they had fewer members, they took whatever chance they could get to pull ahead.

Before Flein could deny their request, Akarenjya stepped onto the platform and spoke to Koto again. This time, his voice could clearly be heard through the microphone.

"I don't want to challenge just any member." he clarified, pointing his finger toward the three Team Musakui members resting on the sidelines. "I want her."

Flein followed the direction his finger was pointing, turning around to look at her teammates behind her. Her mouth dropped a little when she found his target.

He was pointing directly at Rei.


	19. Chapter 19: Broken Love

Author's Note: Apologies for not updating in such a long time! College was really kicking my butt!

For both new readers and readers who have been waiting for a long time, thank you for your support and patience!

Chapter 19: Broken Love

At first, Rei turned her head slowly to and fro, an expression of complete disinterest on her face. Another glance at Akarenjya's face, his gaze locked right onto her brown eyes, caused her to finally realize his intent.

"Me?!" she exclaimed, pointing her manicured nail at her own chest. ". . No! No . ." Rei shook her head and stubbornly crossed her arms tightly in front of her.

"Sorry." Flein looked back to Team Gorenja's red-clad leader, gathering the courage to be firm. "I'd rather continue fighting you one on one, if that's okay." It took a grand effort to keep her voice from trembling- although this time there was anger mixed in with the fear. They were not only attempting to outnumber them- they were also deliberately picking out their team's weakest link.

Gazing into Akarenjya's scarred eye, Flein remembered the moment after Gaou's death. She had been gripping the soft collar of Rei's dress, threatening her not to run away, almost wanting to mentally will her not to abandon them. That scarred eye had been glaring at them from across the arena, a silent sneer accompanying it.

"_They were planning this_." Flein thought. "_They saw Rei's weakness and took advantage of it_." She held the sheath of her sword comfortingly at her side, waiting for an answer.

Akarenjya smiled knowingly, his gaze falling to the gound near his feet. "I wouldn't normally resort to such cowardly tactics, I know." he said. "But we've lost two of our friends already, you see. And I'm not planning to lose this early in the tournament."

Flein could feel her face growing hot. She couldn't believe that he was actually going to attempt to fight with her about this. It was preposterous to even think she would have agreed to his terms in the first place.

"That's unfortunate, but-" Flein began patiently, before Koto's microphone blared into her ear.

"We need a decision now, guys!" she said nervously, looking at the restless audience behind her. Flein had been tuning them out, but she had no doubt that the spectators were in favor of her companion getting slaughtered helplessly by three powerful demons. She wasn't Rei's biggest fan, but wasn't going to let that happen to her- nor was she ready to lose another team member.

"I've already made my dec-" Flein started, but was interrupted once again. This time, a loud beeping noise sounded throughout the stadium, and everyone's head simultaneously turned toward the scoreboard above.

Momentarily distracted by her own picture again, it took a moment for Flein to realize what she was looking at. Highlighted over the columns of X's and O's was a giant yellow checkmark. The audience erupted into cheers, roars, and hollers. Flein knew the demons' excitement couldn't mean anything fortunate for her, and had a sudden urge to shake the bushy-tailed announcer and force her to reveal the meaning of the shiny checkmark above.

"Awesome! Looks like we have the Committee's approval!" Koto exclaimed, breathing a sigh of relief and brushing nervous sweat from under her light brown bangs. "We will have a three-on-one match, with the last three members of Team Gorenja against Rei of Team Musakui!"

"But I didn't-" Flein started, peering imploringly into the slivers of black in Koto's green eyes. Her voice caught temporarily in her throat, and she could feel her stomach clenching in despair at the thought of throwing Rei to her death. "I didn't approve of this!"

"Sorry, but once the Committee has approved of something, it's pretty much set in stone!" the fox explained matter-of-factly. But after seeing Flein's expression, her face changed to one of genuine pity. Seeing the sympathy in Koto's eyes, along with the microphone held closely to her face, Flein realized the Dark Tournament's fighting platform was intended for female announcers, not female fighters. At least, not female fighters meant to survive. The knowledgable announcer was aware of this just as much as Flein.

"_This isn't right._" Flein thought, turning her back on Koto and heading toward her teammates. She didn't feel like someone who had just won a point for her team. "_Someone wants us dead._"

Flein lifted her eyes to see Kirda holding tightly to Rei's lanky arm, dragging her forcefully to the edge of the fighting platform. The well-dressed girl was digging the heels of her shiny white shoes into the ground, attempting to pry Kirda's fingers off of her. Anji looked on with her hand covering her mouth, her eyes giving away her concern.

"I'll _throw _you up there if I have to!" Kirda hollered, now gripping Rei's arm with both hands. "And you _know_ I could!"

"I'm quitting! They're not playing fair!" Rei whined stubbornly, being lurched foward by the water demon's strength. "I'm not going to do it if they're not going to be fair!"

Flein hopped down from the tall platform and rolled her eyes, while simultaneously hoping it wouldn't be the last time. Rei had a point about the lack of fairness, but Flein couldn't help but think of an angry toddler when she heard her cries. Kirda noticed her friend beside her, and momentarily stopped tugging on Rei's appendage.

"I tried." Flein told her with a sigh of defeat, before turning to Rei. "Well Rei, looks like you get to prove your worth."

"But . . . there's _three_ . ." Rei murmered while glancing at her opponents, who were now stretching casually on the platform. Except for Akarenjya, who was staring directly at Rei with the slightest ounce of impatience. "You guys didn't have to fight _three_ . ."

"Just try to quickly knock out one or two of them, and then you'll have less to fight." Flein suggested. She knew the chances of Rei surviving were slim at this point, but she could at least give some parting advice. "You can at least do that, right?"

"I don't think she can fight at _all_." Kirda stated bluntly, causing Rei's face to turn red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"I-I can fight!" Rei protested, brushing her black hair off of her shoulder defiantly. "It's just unfair with three people, that's all!"

The cries of the audience around them were increasing in volume and urgency, with "Hurry up and go die!" and "I want to see the girl get slaughtered!" being some of the comments Flein could pick out from the chorus of screams. It surely wasn't doing any good for Rei's morale.

Koto's mood was also increasing in anxiety along with the growing intensity of the audience's impatience. "Rei of Team Musakui, you're up next!"

There was something about Koto's voice that made one want to do whatever she requested. It wasn't because she was threatening- it was because the anxiety that seeped out of her voice made one feel anxious as well. It was as if she thought the Committee themselves were going to swoop down from their cozy seats above and breathe fire onto everyone involved if someone didn't obey her soon.

Apparently Rei was affected by this as well, as she snapped out of her panic-induced stubborness at the sound of Koto's voice, and stepped toward the platform slowly with dread. "Well, here I go, I guess. ." she said, without looking at her teammates. "I might die . ."

It was obvious to all that she was clamoring desperately for any last minute ounce of pity. Flein was about to tell her to quit stalling and push her onto the platform before a tiny voice broke the silence.

"Good luck . ."

Rei turned to the source of the voice. "Thank you, Anji." she said gratefully, making a point to avoid looking at either Flein or Kirda. "Sometimes I think you're the only one who truly cares about me." The corners of Anji's mouth turned up slightly into a polite smile before Rei turned back to the platform and attempted to daintily climb on top of it, before giving up and shakily pulling herself up.

The audience's anticipation rose once again as Rei met the rest of Team Gorenja in the middle of the platform. She was by far the tallest person on their team after the death of Gaou, yet somehow she looked so small and frail when facing her three colorful opponents. The girl annoyed her, but Flein's small hands still shook slightly at the thought of Rei losing her life. But she had to admit- she was also shaking in anticipation along with the audience. She knew surprisingly little about this teammate- she couldn't help being curious.

"Maybe she has some secret power we don't know about." Flein said hopefully to Kirda and Anji. "We haven't seen her fight yet. Maybe she's a lot stronger than she looks?"

"Nope." Kirda said bluntly. "We're screwed."

Koto stood in the middle of the fighters, first looking to Rei, and then looking at the combination of Akarenjya, Momorenjya, and Aorenjya. "The next fight will be Team Musakui's Rei versus the rest of Team Gorenja! Begin!"

Koto had barely swung her hand down when all three of Team Gorenja's fighters rushed forward at Rei with startling speed, before jumping simultaneously. Clearly taken off-guard, Rei leaped back in fright, stuffing her hand under the ornate belt of her dress and taking out a small item that Flein wasn't able to make out.

"You know what to do!" Akarenjya called to his teammates, and then, to the surprise of both Rei and the spectators, split into three separate versions of himself.

"Keep your heads!" Aorenjya, the older and wiser demon in blue, advised his teammates, before multiplying into three as well.

"Teamwork has _never _been overpowered!" Momorenjya declared, before doing the same. Right before Rei's eyes, the amount of opponents had easily tripled. All nine of them were now jumping around and over her in an amazing display of acrobatics, leaving Rei glancing around frantically in an attempt to follow their movements.

"Whoa!" Koto exclaimed, her eyes shaking violently as she tried to keep up with Team Gorenja's speed. "How will Rei defend against this amazing onslaught of doppelgangers?! Twenty fighters seem to be going at once! The opponent doesn't know _who _to hit!"

"They're not doppelgangers." Flein corrected Koto, even though she knew she was well out of the fox's hearing range. "They're afterimages. There are still only three fighters, and she just has to hit them. But will _she_ know that?"

"Look at what she's holding!" Kirda exclaimed, pointing to the object in Rei's hand. Before Flein could ask the braided girl if she'd even been paying attention, she noticed the small weapon held tightly in the palm of Rei's hand.

"She's . . she's just using a small dagger . ." Flein mumbled in disbelief. "Don't tell me that's all she has to fight with . ."

"Yep. We're screwed." Kirda repeated.

Rei was swinging the small weapon blindly now, attempting to get even a small jab at one of her opponents. She was running out of time. Momorenjya's nails glowed bright white and grew to double their size, resembling sharp claws. All three Akarenjyas held a fistful of red energy in their hands. The Aorenjyas summoned blue orbs of power of their own in their hands.

"They're done playing around." Flein said through clenched teeth. "They're preparing to attack. _Rei, move_!"

As if on cue, all of Team Gorenja's members announced their strongest attack together: "Gorenja Battalion!"

All blasts of energy flew from Rei's assailants at once, and she barely had time to move before the immense amount of power rained down on her.

Flein felt as if her heart had frozen in her chest, but it was a combination of her own warning and Team Gorenja's unnecessary announcement of their own attack that caused Rei to jump out of the way in time. The attacks landed with a deafening crash on the spot she once stood, causing a deep crater in the fighting platform. It was an impact that would have surely killed her.

However, she did not come out unscathed. She laid on the ground near the crater, knocked down by the pure energy, her beautiful lace stockings torn to shreds and a large chunk of her dress missing, with the nearby cloth burnt to a shade of brown.

"Wow, what power!" Koto cried, walking until she was only inches from the bruised girl. "I don't even _want_ to start counting yet! Such an awesome attack is worth seeing again!"

"Huh. Lucky girl." Akarenjya said with a sneer. "It's rare that anybody dodges that attack." Team Gorenja was back to three again, standing still and watching Rei for any movement. The only exception was Aorenjya, who was glaring suspiciously at Flein.

Flein knew he was aware that she had warned her teammate of their attack, but ignored Aorenjya's gaze. She had mixed feelings on whether or nor she wanted Rei to get up or stay down. It may not be such a bad idea for her to pretend to be too injured to continue on.

Before Koto could even begin counting, Rei stirred and slowly brought herself up to a sitting position. She groggily looked over herself to assess the damage, and her eyes widened and stopped at her legs.

"And it looks like I may get my wish after all!" Koto said into the microphone. "Rei looks well enough to be back in action in time for Round 2!"

"Idiot. She should have just pretended to be unconscious." Kirda voiced Flein's thoughts. But something was wrong- Rei had still not turned her gaze from her legs.

"You . . you ruined my dress . ." she murmered, barely audible for even Flein. Koto was still talking excitedly to the audience, while Team Gorenja was saying something about Rei not being able to survive another Gorenja Battalion. But no one seemed to hear her murmering.

"What is she saying about her dress . . ?" asked Anji, her ears pointing straight up. She would not have to wonder for long.

"You . . _you ruined my dress_!" Even without the help of a microphone, somehow Rei's shrill scream reached all ears in the stadium. "Do you know how much this dress _cost_?!"

Akarenjya simply smiled, obviously amused by Rei's new temper tantrum. "What _are_ you talking about?"

Rei swiftly shoved her hand behind her back and under her belt once again, this time confidently taking out a white piece of cloth. It wasn't until Rei brought it up to her mouth that Flein realized it was actually a mask- one similar to what a doctor would use in an operating room. Soon only the top half of her head was visible, her nose and mouth completely covered. Her next words were somewhat muffled by her new accessory, but Flein could hear them clearly: "_This means war_."

Akarenjya chuckled. "That won't help you at all." His words fell on deaf ears. Rei wasn't finished fishing in her belt for items- this time she brought out a small black stick, which at first led Flein to believe she was going to resort to using daggers again. But one small flick of the wrist revealed an ornate and decorative fan.

"Oh now we're _really_ screwed." Kirda said. "Please tell me that's not her new weapon!"

"I have no idea what's going on but Rei seems to be changing her look in the middle of the fight!" Koto informed the audience, who was growing more and more confused by the minute. "A girl's gotta remain fashionable!"

"I'm done playing games." Akarenjya finally said, looking to either side of him at his teammates. "Guys, you know the drill." Team Gorenja simultaneously sprung into the air again at their leader's command, and the audience was treated to a repeat of the previous attack, as each member tripled one by one.

"It's the Gorenja Battalion again, people!" Koto cried, attempting once again to keep up with the trio's movements. "But how will Rei's new fashion strategy help her defend against this crazy attack?!"

Without showing even an ounce of fear or hesitation, Rei tore a small pouch off her belt- one of the four that Flein had noticed hanging from her belt before. She held the small bag in the palm of her hand, before turning it upside down, holding the end of the bag daintily between her two manicured nails. A light powdery substance poured out from the opening of the bag, wafting gently through the air. Rei then held her fan near the stream of light blue powder and swiftly swung it forward, fanning the powder outwards until it floated all around her. The powder's perimeter did not spread far- but it was enough to touch the members of Team Gorenja, whose group of afterimages were now bouncing around the masked girl.

"Whoa, Rei has just fanned something powdery and blue all over the-" Koto's announcement was interrupted by a loud sneeze into the microphone. "- and even though maybe I'm allergic to it . . it smells really good!"

Suddenly the wave of afterimages stopped, and Akarenjya and Aorenjya landed on either side of Rei. Both of them had an expression of complete bewilderment. Momorenjya touched the ground soon afterward, but looking both confused and concerned.

"Why are we stopping?!" she asked Akarenjya, who was now staring at Rei with a look of new understanding. "Ignore her tricks- if we can hit her one more time, we've got her!"

"I just realized something important, Momorenjya." her leader said, never taking his eyes off his opponent. The pink-haired demon looked attentively at Akarenjya, as if to absorb any new information he may have attained about their enemy's weak points. "I . . I think I'm in love with this girl."

The silence from Momorenjya that followed seemed so long that Flein thought maybe she may have started speaking so quietly that it was impossible for even her ears to hear. But then her words afterward seemed far too loud in comparison.

"W-what?! You what . .?!" Momorenjya seemed to be having a hard time breathing. Rei's mouth wasn't visible from behind the mask, but Flein could tell by the shape of her eyes that she was grinning. Aorenjya was slowly walking toward Rei from behind, his expression still dazed.

"I can't believe I didn't realize it before but . . " Akarenjya began to approach Rei as well. "I think she may be the love of my life." Momorenjya just stood there, frozen to the spot, looking at Akarenjya with an expression of complete disbelief on her face. No theories could be given by Koto, who was busy continuously sniffing the air around her.

"She obviously did something to them." Flein said, refusing to believe that anyone could simply fall head over heels in love with Rei so quickly. "There's something up with that powder."

"Yeah, and whatever it is isn't affecting the girl at all!" Kirda added.

"I think that might have been a very strong pheremone powder." Anji said to the others. "Depending on the pheremone, some people may be unaffected. And some people may even think it stinks!"

Flein turned her attention back to Rei, who was now being unexpectedly embraced from behind by Aorenjya, while being gazed at fondly by Akarenjya. "Looks like Rei's good luck never ends." She would hate to see what would have happened if all three Gorenja members were unaffected by her pheremone. But she couldn't decide if seeing Rei getting doted on by her former enemies was just as bad.

"Akarenjya . . Aorenjya . . snap out of it!" Momorenjya pleaded with her teammates, attempting to step in front of Akarenjya and catch his gaze. "She's still our enemy! Remember?"

Momorenjya's pleas were ignored. Rei hooted in laughter loudly, her hand halfway covering her already covered mouth. She was enjoying every second of the attention, as well as Momorenjya's useless attempts to bring back her teammates. The audience was getting restless.

"Don't pamper the girl! _Kill her_!" they screamed. "I wanna see some blood!" At this point, Flein couldn't help imagining what would happen if the powder spread to the audience. She wondered if the lustful demons would treat Rei gently- that might become an entirely different form of entertainment. She shook away her spiteful thoughts.

"I'm not entirely sure what kind of soap opera is going on . ." Koto murmured, not even looking in the direction of the fighters. "But this powder smells really really really-" Her stream of words was interrupted by another sneeze. "-really really good . ."

"Akarenjya . . Aka . ." Momorenjya pleaded, her voice reaching a new pitch now. The nickname for her leader slid familiarly off her tongue, as if she'd said it often- during training perhaps, or in the middle of the night- and she gripped his arm in desperation. "Look at me . ."

The girl clad in pink might as well have been invisible. Only Rei existed in Akarenjya's world now. He was holding one of her hands gently between his own, sliding his thumbs over her knuckles affectionately. Rei did not even seem to notice- she was too busy soaking up the pain in Momorenjya's eyes.

"Fine." Her voice hardened now, and it was as if an invisible barrier was risen that blocked her emotions from sight. "If you are not willing to do it, then I will kill the girl myself." The demon's nails grew into bright white claws once again, sharp as knives. She aimed them right at Rei's neck, a toothy smile finally spreading across the serious features of her face. She was going to enjoy slicing this particular girl open.

Rei screamed at the top of her lungs, and despite the danger, the scream seemed overdramatic even for this situation. Akarenjya and Aorenjya tore their gaze away from their new object of affection and looked at their female teammate with contempt.

"If you even touch her, I will not hesitate to kill you." Akarenjya said, a glowing red ball of energy forming in the palm of his hand.

"You dare to kill the love of my life?!" Aorenjya cried, preparing an attack of his own. Both of them stood between Momorenjya and Rei, acting as a protective wall. Rei had her head turned away from Momorenjya in a display of fear, but from this angle Flein could see a small smile on her lips.

"This . . this can't be . ." Momorenjya stuttered. This behavior from her teammates proved to be too much- the energy disappeared from her hands. "You would kill me?"

"For my love, I would do anything." Akarenjya declared, taking a threatening step closer. "In comparison to her, your life is nothing."

Momorenjya fell to her knees, her eyes wide but seeing nothing. All of the fighting spirit seemed to be drained out of her. She simply stared at the ground between her knees, deaf to the shouts of the spectators around her.

"Worry not, my lady, I will take you from this dangerous place." Aorenjya said, suddenly grabbing Rei from around the waist and throwing her roughly over his shoulder. This unexpected and undesired turn of events caused Rei to emit a genuine scream now, as she kicked and punched Aorenjya's chest and back. "Have no fear. Nothing will harm you as long as I am around!"

"_Let her go_!" Akarenjya bolted toward his teammate and tackled him to the ground, causing Rei to go flying a few feet away. "No one is allowed to touch her but me!"

"I was only simply protecting her from the likes of _you_!" Aorenjya pushed his leader off of him with his foot, before punching him to the ground and holding him down. The two rolled across the dirty fighting platform, punching each other in the mouth, the cheek, the nose. Momorenjya was still staring at the same spot, unable to move. Flein was occasionally keeping an eye on her, but she wasn't even sure if the girl had blinked. Rei was getting up again, rubbing the back of her head tenderly. Aorenjya had gained the upper hand, pinning his leader to the ground below him.

"Try protecting her _now_!" Akarenjya cried, spreading his fingers out and forming a ball of energy in his palm. He smashed the heel of his palm into Aorenjya's nose, the red glowing orb sinking into the demon's head. His eyes shone a brilliant bright red for a mere few seconds before his skull exploded into miniscule pieces, squishy gray particles of brain raining down on top of Akarenjya's head. The lower half of Aorenjya's jaw remained, and a few random teeth fell to the ground below, sounding briefly like someone dropping candy. Oblivious to the audience going wild behind him, Akarenjya pushed his former teammate off of him like a discarded ragdoll, and hurried over to Rei.

"I've destroyed him- you'll be okay now." he assured her, his face covered in Aorenjya's dark red blood. "From now on it will be just you and me, okay?"

Rei was no longer smiling. "St- Stay away from me!"

Both Rei and Akarenjya, and even Flein, were then startled by a loud booming sound from the speaker sound system. Flein turned her head to Koto, whose microphone was now rolling on the ground at her feet. She was licking her hands and wrists profusely, rubbing her nose roughly over her knuckles. Her nose had turned red at some point, and she was completely unaware of what was going on around her.

"You don't like me anymore?" It didn't take long for Akarenjya to disregard the small distraction. "You want me to stay away?"

"I never liked you! Get away from me!" Rei cried, finally finding the strength to rise to her feet. She turned her back on Akarenjya and started to run, but was stopped short by her new companion gripping roughly onto her long black hair. She was yanked back down onto the ground again, and she tried desperately to tear her hair from Akarenjya's grasp.

"Never liked me? _Never liked me_?!" Akarenjya shouted, grabbing Rei by the throat and lifting her to eye level. "Is that why you've just been leading me on all this time?! Is this all just a game to you?!"

"Damn. She'd had the upper hand for so long!" Flein cursed. "She shouldn't have played around so much and killed the two off while she had the chance!"

Rei was unable to ask her assailant's questions. She struggled to breathe, grabbing and pulling at the two hands he had wrapped around her neck. When that showed no progress, she tried desperately to reach underneath her torn dress, searching and groping for something. She was running out of time- her face was turning a light shade of blue.

"Do something!" Kirda cried, her body pressed against the edge of the platform. It took an immense amount of willpower not to simply climb onto the platform and attack Akarenjya- especially now since Koto seemed unable to perform her duties.

Suddenly a stream of blood shot out of Akarenjya's chest and splattered into Rei's face. She was released from his hold, and fell to the ground choking and gasping in air. Akarenjya brought both of his hands to the three small holes in his chest, where long, shiny white nails vanished from sight. He fell to his knees, looking at the blood on his hands in shock, before turning around to find Momorenjya behind him. The only part of her face that revealed any trace of emotion were her eyes, where one tear was dangerously close to falling down her cheek. Other than this, her expression was one of emptiness. Only until Akarenjya, in his last moments, finally reached toward her in recognition did she allow the tear to fall.

Momorenjya turned around and walked toward the stadium exit before Akarenjya's head hit the ground. Rei stared after her in shock, locked into a fetal postion, as if the pink-haired demon would suddenly change her mind and come back to harm her. It was only until Momorenjya quietly left the arena completely that the audience became aware that there was a winner.


	20. Chapter 20: Team Kahojila

Author's Note: Yu Yu Hakusho: The Lost Chapters now has its own DeviantArt account!: YYHTheLostChapters

Go here to see drawings of the characters!

Chapter 20: Team Kahojila

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

"_Kill the girl!_"

"You had her right where you wanted her!"

The spectators' unruliness increased by the second, as it became more and more apparent that the victory belonged to Team Musakui. Flein eyed the preoccupied announcer carefully, waiting for an official announcement before she dared step onto the platform to retrieve her cowering friend. Koto was now pulling strands of her bushy hair into her mouth, delightfully sucking on the powder-covered curls.

Flein heard something shift beside her, and she looked over to find Kirda gone. The water demon was already running across the platform toward Rei, who was still laying curled up on the ground. "Wait!" Flein cried, but then climbed onto the platform herself and ran after her, Anji close behind.

"You okay?" Kirda asked, kneeling over the trembling girl. Rei lifted her head and sat up slowly, as if awaking from a long nap. Her neck was noticeably red, with crimson streaks where Akarenjya's hands once pressed moments before.

"Y-yeah . ." she rasped, bringing her hand to her mouth and tearing off the white mask that had been covering it. Her brown eyes never met theirs, and instead continued to stare at her clothing, which was ripped in more places than before. "It . . it was just an off-brand dress . ."

"We weren't asking about the _dress_." Kirda replied, rolling her eyes. Typical Rei. "And we wouldn't have known it was an off-brand dress, by the way you were throwing a fit over it."

Flein kneeled down beside Kirda to speak to Rei as well. "By the way, if you're going to snap like that and use a dishonorable strategy . ." she began, smiling every so slightly. ". . you can at least make sure it doesn't backfire on you."

"Hey, at least I won!" Rei retorted, finally turning her gaze to Flein. She could see that stubborn, familiar fire behind the girl's eyes again. "I won for the whole team!"

"Yeah yeah, good job, Rei!" Kirda patted the raven-haired girl on the back, as if she were praising a small toddler on a well-done finger painting.

Just as Flein was beginning to question whether or not they too might eventually be affected by the powder still drifting in the air, the fox-tailed announcer vigorously shook her head and blinked several times at her surroundings. She glanced around her in an almost comical display of absolute bewilderment, before finally spotting her discarded microphone on the ground and reclaiming it.

"Well, um, I'm not entirely sure what just happened but . ." Koto began, discretely wiping away a bit of drool that had formed at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes found the remaining members of Team Musakui, who had now turned to face her, looking at her expectantly. ". . but I believe that we have a winner, right?!"

"Yep!" Kirda exclaimed proudly, raising her hand high in the air. ". . . At least, I'm pretty sure! There's no one left for us to fight!"

"Well if that's the case!" Koto walked over to meet Kirda's extended arm, grabbing it around the wrist before turning to face the audience. "The winner of this match is Team Musakui!"

The chorus of booing and shouting was a direct contradiction to the swelling in Flein's chest. They had won. It didn't matter what anyone else thought- they had won. The giant screen above the stadium almost regretfully transformed into a congratulatory flashing image of their team's name. Flein felt like she had been holding her breath for a long time, and now was able to finally release it. It was almost like a part of her was worried that they wouldn't be _allowed _to win.

Together, the four girls descended from the damaged and worn fighting platform, floating on air despite all of the insults and threats being thrown their way from the various audience members. It was only until they were under the safe cover of the stadium corridors that they felt comfortable openly expressing their excitement.

"_Woo hoo_!" Kirda spun around and suddenly threw her arms around Flein tightly, almost knocking down the cat demon in the process. "We _won_!"

Flein couldn't help grinning herself, involuntarily jumping up and down a little in her own enthusiasm. Some nearby demon bystanders were staring at the girls in confusion, but she didn't spare them a thought. Her eyes caught Rei's, who was showing a small smile herself, despite all that had happened. Even though the girl had caused Flein a lot of exasperation and stress, she couldn't help having an urge to spin her around in celebration as well.

The team's smiles disappeared when it became obvious that Anji was not as thrilled as the rest. Her head was turned downward, and her hands were clasped tightly in front of her.

"I'm sorry." she mumbled, before anyone could ask her what was wrong. "I didn't contribute anything at all . ."

"It's okay!" Kirda quickly chirped. "You can fight next time!" Anji nodded in response, but her expression did not reveal any trace of enthusiasm.

"Now, let's drink back at the hotel in celebration!" Rei said decidedly, and started walking briskly ahead of them without looking back.

"Wait a minute!" Flein exclaimed, causing Rei to stop and turn around slowly with dread. "We need another teammate before tomorrow, remember?" Losing Gaou to Kirenjya seemed like an event that happened centuries ago, but it was still a problem that needed to be solved as soon as possible. Now that they had gained a victory, she was even more determined not to let it go to waste.

"We can just do that tomorrow before our match, right?" Rei asked, the pitch of her voice nearing whining levels.

"But what if our match is early?" Flein countered. "We won't have any time. We need to start looking now. Let's split up like we did last time, and meet back here at nightfall with anyone we've found." She figured this strategy was successful in obtaining Anji as a team member- there was no harm in seeing if it would yield results again.

Flein's suggestion was followed by an awkward moment in which all four girls looked at each other, silently attempting to figure out how the split should be made. After several painful seconds, Kirda finally rolled her eyes and grabbed Rei's arm. "You're coming with me."

After silently mouthing "Thank you" to Kirda, Flein said, "All right, I'll see you you two at this spot later then! Come on, Anji!" The two animal demons then headed in the opposite direction of their companions, which led out of the stadium. Anji trailed along silently behind the cat demon.

After only a few minutes had elapsed, Flein could no longer hear her friend's footsteps behind her. "_Don't tell me I've left her behind already _. ." she thought, turning around and scanning the area. She quickly spotted the wolf demon standing in front of the electronic screen at the entrance, which informs all who examine it of the schedule of matches for the day. Flein remembered how she had run frantically to it this morning, unable to contain her urge to discover when her match would be. She didn't doubt that she might react with the same level of urgency tomorrow as well.

She approached Anji, who was earnestly scanning the list of matches. "I almost accidentally left you behind." Flein admitted to her with a smile. Hidden behind her statement was a "_Please don't scare me like that again, please_".

Anji did not even seem to realize she was speaking. "That's . . . that's the name of my village."

"What?"

The purple-haired girl pointed at a spot on the electronic screen with all her might, as if willing it to explode into tiny pieces. "Kahojila. Team Kahojila. That's my _village_!"

Flein couldn't find anything appropriate to say. It's not that she was speechless- it's just that everything she wanted to say or could say was unsuitable for the situation. Some examples were "_I was sure your team had died in the preliminary rounds_" or "_That doesn't help us with our current situation_". She shook her head, thanking the stars that she was born introverted and had the intelligence to think before speaking. After that, she made some space in her head to feel happy for Anji, shoving away the troublesome anxiety to find another teammate as soon as possible.

"Please, I know it's a burden but . ." her friend began, and Flein could already predict what was coming. ". . could I perhaps look for this team? I know it _can't_ be a coincidence. It _must_ be them! I could even go all by myself, so you won't have to waste any time . ."

Flein stopped her in the middle of her plea. "It's fine, it's not a waste of time." she assured her. Her eyes had landed on the schedule board again, before widening in surprise. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I know exactly where they are."

"You do?" Anji asked incredulously. She was answered with a nod toward the schedule board.

"Look at the time their match is scheduled." Flein explained.

The next match, Team Kahojila VS Team Toguro, was happening right now.

It wasn't easy walking back into the hordes of people who despise your very existence, especially when you were forced to sit among them on the hard stadium seats. Flein had had her whole life to practice blending into the background, yet somehow at this moment, it didn't seem to help her much. It felt as though every eye, whether it was a set of two, three, or just one, was on the pair of female victors of the previous match.

Luckily, Koto's announcement of the beginning of the third match of the first tournament day caused every head to turn toward the arena below. Flein could see that the staff hadn't had much time to repair the fighting platform between matches- there was still a gigantic dent in the middle, and she thought she could even see the tiny black marks where Midorenjya's acid energy had scorched the concrete.

Flein and Anji were fortunate to have found two seats next to each other, even though they were some of the farthest away from the action. After the blood bath of the Opening Ceremonies, Flein no longer had a desire to sit in the front row of any occasion.

"Introducing the team to my left, Team Toguro!" Koto announced with renewed enthusiasm, almost as if the stressful events from the last two matches had never happened. It only just occurred to Flein that remaining bubbly fight after fight in this tournament was an accomplishment the fox demon should be proud of. "And on my right, Team Kahojila!"

Anji fidgeted so hard in her seat that Flein was concerned the girl was going to bolt. The team that emerged from the stadium corridor on Koto's right was unsurprisingly made entirely of male wolf demons. Each thick-coated tail was of a different color: brown, blonde, black, tan, red. They were an elusive species of demon- Flein couldn't remember ever seeing so many in one place.

"That's them." Anji said breathlessly, clasping her hands even tighter together in her lap. "It's really them . . Hijok, Talik, Feyr, Salopif . . and Joka . ."

The amount of stress Anji subconsciously put on the name "Joka" led Flein to believe that this was the aforementioned friend she claimed to be looking for. "Which one of them is Joka?" she asked, scanning the five demons. Her eyesight was good, but at this distance it was hard for even Flein to make out anything other than hair color.

"The one with the black hair." Anji informed her. Flein turned her head back to the arena and found the black-haired demon, who was standing off to the side. He was the only one of his team who wasn't looking straight ahead at his opponents- instead, he was taking in the stadium around him with interest, like a child brought to an art gallery for the first time. One of the older team members, an experienced man with red hair, said something sternly to Joka and he quickly turned his head forward with a more focused expression. Anji just sighed and shook her head knowingly.

From their current position, it was hard to see the opposing team- Flein and Anji were sitting in the stadium section almost directly behind them. They heard them before they saw them. A loud _boom, boom, boom _echoed throughout the arena, shaking the very seats they were sitting on. It wasn't an ill-timed earthquake- it was footsteps. Whoever these footsteps belonged to wasn't just large, like Gaou or Kirenjya. They were simply _immense_.

The earthquake-inducinng footsteps ceased, and Flein and Anji were finally able to view the backs of Team Toguro. The imposing team consisted of a slim man with long, silky black hair, another man of extremly short stature with curly, gray hair, a large man with heavy armor that could only be the owner of the earth-shaking footsteps, and what could only be a giant, and the tallest of them at that. Flein doubted her head could even reach the height of his knees.

The size of these competitors weren't what was most alarming about them- it was the raw power they gave off. Flein could even feel it from where she was sitting- it was causing her stomach to turn into knots. She absentmindedly gripped the smooth white scarf around her neck for comfort, and then looked down at it in surprise. She had almost completely forgotten that she was still wearing Hiei's scarf. A small, black singed mark at the end of the cloth, most likely caused by Midorenjya, saddened her. She didn't want to think of giving the accessory back to the fire demon with it damaged in such a way.

The five members of Team Kahojila gathered near Koto near the center of the fractured fighting platform, but there was immediately something off about Team Toguro. Only the short, gray-haired member arrived to meet the wolf demon team in the middle of the platform, while the larger members stayed behind.

"Well, it's usually custom for _all _of the team members to meet before the match begins but . ." Koto began nervously, staring at the sole member of Team Toguro with an expression of confusion.

"There's no need for such formalities." the small man said, and while his voice was hard to hear from a distance, there was something about it that made Flein's spine tingle. "I'm perfectly willing to take on the entire team myself, if you don't mind."

"W-what?!" Koto exclaimed, and it was the first time Flein had seen the professional fox lose her composure. "A-all by yourself?!"

"Indeed." the short man replied smoothly. "I apologize for not showing more of an exciting match, but my brother and I have some matters to attend to quickly, and we've no time to play around for long."

The members of Team Kahojila exchanged bewildered glances, and it was safe to say they weren't the only ones who didn't know what to make of the demon's bold suggestion.

"Is this serious or . . is he just stupid?" Anji asked, her voice tinged with anxiety. Flein would have liked to answer her with the latter, but the energy radiating from all members of Team Toguro worried her. The only thing she could say for sure is that it was going to be a short fight either way.

"Unbelievable! Forget the 3 VS 1 from the previous match- we've got 5 VS 1, people!" Koto practically shouted to the spectators, who were talking excitedly amongst themselves. "Does the older Toguro brother even stand a chance?"

Only a few seconds elapsed before Team Kahojila hesitantly agreed to the unusual terms. It was with these words that the "older Toguro brother" was facing five opponents at once.

"I still can't help being worried but . ." Anji began, nervously fiddling with the ends of her pleated skirt. ". . this can't be a smart decision on his part. Wolf demons work in packs. He'll be fighting Team Kahojila at their best."

"Maybe that's exactly what he wants." Flein said. She didn't want to add her next thought: "_Otherwise perhaps it would be too easy_."

Koto held her arm steadily between the competitors, before lifting it swiftly into the air. "Begin!"

The wolf demons wasted no time- what was once a set of five people were now quickly a set of five large, snarling wolves. One could see the bits of cloth flying through the air as each member of Team Kahojila grew to three times their size, each of their teeth bared at their opponent.

"Waaaaaah!" cried Koto, as she dodged the furry leg of a large tan wolf beside her. Soon the wolves had the elder Toguro brother surrounded on all sides, leaving the announcer no choice but to stand outside the circle, near the edge of the platform. "Suddenly Team Kahojila is a team of giant fuzzy animals! This should be cute, but all I'm worried about is avoiding becoming their dinner!"

Flein watched this spectacle intensely- she had never seen a wolf demon transform before, and wasn't even aware that they could. She glanced at Anji from the side, wondering if her friend also had this ability. "_At least they're not playing around_" she thought, returning her attention back to the fight. "_They're pulling out their best cards at the start, before he can gain an advantage_."

The elder Toguro brother simply sneered- never a good sign. Just as the wolves simultaneously began to charge, the short demon let out an ear-shattering shriek, as several long, thin appendages shot out from his body and pierced through all five wolves at once. Blood squirted out from the numerous tiny holes in the wolves' bodies, and a few seconds later they were all reduced to quivering, scantily-clad human forms.

"Unfortunately for you," the elder Toguro brother began, with skin-colored flesh weapons sticking out from all parts of his body. "I'm well equipped for dealing with the larger groups." With that, he drew the tentacle-like weapons back into his body, leaving the punctured Team Kahojila members to fall silently to the ground.


	21. Chapter 21: Recovery

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who have followed, favorited, and left reviews! It really lifted my spirits, and I'm glad everyone is enjoying it!

A reminder to all: Yu Yu Hakusho: The Lost Chapters has its own DeviantArt account! Just search "YYHTheLostChapters" on DeviantArt if you're curious as to what the characters look like!

Chapter 21: Recovery

"_No!_"Anji shrieked, which was an unfamiliar sound coming from her. She was up and running in a heartbeat, leaving Flein sitting baffled in her seat.

"Wait! Anji!" she cried, jumping to her feet and pushing her way through the masses of cheering spectators. She chased after her friend into the dark stadium corridors, never letting her out of her sight.

"_If I lose her now_" Flein thought, running after Anji's fleeing form with all of her might. "_We both could become lost in this place_." Fortunately, the wolf demon was no challenge to keep up with, and the crowds of confused demon bystanders did nothing to deter Flein from her target. Just when she could see sunlight at the end of the corridor, it became obvious where her friend was headed.

The two burst out of the stadium and onto the grassy arena perimeter, Anji sprinting directly to the familiar fighting platform without stopping to catch her breath.

"Five . . . four . . ." Koto was counting slowly, almost as if begging for one of the scattered Team Kahojila members to stagger to their feet. The elder Toguro brother stood calmly beside her, his back facing Flein and Anji's breathless forms.

Flein bent forward, her hands on her knees, fighting for air. After a moment, she looked up to find Anji reaching the top half of her body over the concrete platform, straining to grasp the motionless arm of the black-haired wolf demon who had been flung near the edge.

"Wait . . " Flein gasped, resuming her run to Anji's side. She knew as well as anyone that the fight was over, but she had no doubt in her mind that the fearsome victor would enjoy killing off anyone who crossed his line of vision- especially those showing pity to his broken playthings.

"Two . . . one!" Koto finished with a flourish, while noticeably neglecting to touch the Toguro brother. "The winner of the entire match, and most likely the new record-holder of the fastest match ever, is the elder Toguro brother of Team Toguro! Ladies and gentlemen, you've just witnessed a fight for the history books!"

Anji had managed to grab a hold of her immobile companion, and was now hooking her short arms underneath the crooks of his arms. Flein had stopped a few feet away, unable to keep her eyes from straying to the elder Toguro brother, who was currently surveying his work with a satisfied smile.

"_Don't look over here_." Flein thought, unable to gather the courage to come closer and help her friend. "_Please, don't look over here_." She wished more than anything that he would stop basking in his victory and return to his teammates without a glance back.

With a considerable amount of effort, Anji dragged the wolf demon over the edge of the platform and onto the grass below, the man landing on the ground with a soft _thud_. The noise was practically inaudible over the exhilarated cheering of the audience members, yet somehow the Toguro brother's gray-haired head whipped around as soon as Joka had touched the dirt.

Flein's heart froze in her chest. Her teammate was still painstakingly pulling her friend across the grass by both arms, unaware that the demon's beady eyes were locked onto her. The effort was leaving a trail of dark blood on the ground.

"Well, well . . still alive after all that? A worthy accomplishment in itself." the elder Toguro sneered. In a moment of confusion and panic, Flein thought that perhaps the demon had mistaken Anji as a surviving member of Team Kahojila. But after another glance, she realized that Joka's chest was still slowly moving up and down- he was alive, but barely. One of the elder Toguro brother's fingers elongated a few inches in anticipation. "Perhaps I should just spare your little girlfriend the trouble and snuff out your life right now? I do hate incomplete work."

Anji gasped in shock and loosened her grip on Joka, letting the top half of his unconscious body fall limply to the ground.

"Well this is unexpected! It's just one surprise after another!" Koto exclaimed, seemingly grateful to fill in the currently large empty gap in the schedule. "Two members of Team Musakui, the victors of the last match, have appeared here in the arena once again!" The cheering soon transformed into raucous yelling as the two girls were finally noticed by the audience. Anji had stepped one timid leg over Joka, blocking his body from any harm the elder Toguro may cause. Her defiant gaze never left the stout demon's face, as if daring him to go through her.

Flein had never seen such bravery displayed by the quiet girl, even though she could see her body trembling. Without thinking and against her better judgment, the cat demon moved to stand beside her companion, blocking Joka's body as well. The elder Toguro's grin simply spread wider in response, as if amused by their vain attempt to protect his prey.

"_This is it_." Flein thought. "_I've just made the dumbest decision of my life._" She tried her best to muster up a dignified expression, though she couldn't stop her legs from quivering. There was something about the bushy-haired demon that chilled her to the bone. She wondered if she could unzip her bag and procure her sword in the time it would take for him to puncture her head with his fingernail.

Then, like a dream, the elder Toguro returned his hands behind his back and looked to the ground. "I could very well separate your pretty little heads from your bodies in an instant. But I'm much too curious about how well you'll fare in your next match. I'm sure it will be most . . entertaining." he said, the grin never leaving his face. With that, he turned around and headed toward his team on the opposite side of the arena. "You can keep your friend. He'll be dead soon anyway."

Across from him, Flein could see the hard stare of the younger Toguro brother, whose sunglasses hid almost all expression. She had no doubt that his older brother could feel the disapproving stare on his back as he threatened the two members of Team Musakui.

"It looks like these ladies claimed themselves a man without a fight!" Koto informed the audience, disappointment rising in her voice. "How boring!"

It was only until after the elder Toguro brother was halfway across the fighting platform that Flein saw a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye. A few feet away from where the demon was currently walking, one of the deceased members of Team Kahojila was faintly twitching. The blonde's fingers were moving almost reflexively, and upon closer inspection, his body seemed to be slightly quaking.

Flein blinked her eyes several times and squinted, believing it to be hallucinations. But then the young man's eyes slowly opened, looking around at his environment, before finally making contact with her own. She found herself staring back at this stranger in confusion.

"_Oh God. He's not dead yet either_." she finally realized. "_He'll surely be killed if he's noticed_." While she still had the blonde wolf demon's attention, she slowly shook her head with purpose, her eyes never leaving his. "_Don't. Move_." His dark brown eyes snapped shut in response, his body completely still.

"Can you help me?" A small, shaky voice interrupted Flein's thoughts, and she turned to see that Anji had managed to stand the unconscious Joka on his feet, the much shorter girl supporting him from under his shoulder. She was struggling under the weight, and the fact that she was still trembling from their close encounter with death didn't seem to be helping.

Flein wordlessly moved to support Joka on the other side, throwing his limp arm over her shoulders. He smelled like the fur of an animal who had just rolled in the dirt, along with dried blood. His shirt lay upon him in tattered remnants, and she could feel damp bare skin on her own.

Ignoring the savage insults thrown at them for what must have been the hundredth time that day, the two successfully carried Joka to the safe darkness of the stadium's hallways. Flein didn't dare look back- she didn't want to see if Team Toguro was still staring at them, nor did she want to see the uncertain fate of the other Team Kahojila survivor. She could only hope he would stay put until after the dangerous group had left. The young man had to fight for himself- Flein wasn't sure if voicing a word of this to Anji would cause the girl to run back another time.

Fortunately for their stamina, the girls quickly discovered an unoccupied locker room close to the arena entrance, and carefully lowered Joka onto a wide bench within. His breath was shaky and uneven, and his body still continued to drip blood onto the clean linoleum floor.

"Since that was such a short match, we have a long time until this locker room will probably be used by the next contestants." Flein said, sitting on the bench beside the one Joka was laying on and catching her breath. "But we can't keep him here forever." She wondered if she and Anji were able to slowly carry the wolf demon all the way to the hotel- even if they could, it wouldn't be a short trip.

Anji just stared at Joka's wounded form without speaking, examining and assessing the damage with a tense expression. Flein wondered if perhaps the elder Toguro brother's words- "_He'll be dead soon anyway._"- was plaguing her mind.

After a large and contemplative silence, uneven footsteps could be heard heading toward the doorway. "_Go away._" Flein thought earnestly, glaring at the closed door. She couldn't handle the idea of strangers coming in now- especially since she was sure over half the population of Hanging Neck Island wanted the two of them dead.

Despite Flein's unheard commands, the door swung open- only the figure behind it was a familiar one.

"Talik!" Anji gasped, shooting up from the bench she was sitting on and running to the blonde-haired wolf demon. Flein blinked in surprise as she recognized the young man who had been lying motionless on the fighting platform before.

"Anji! Why are you here?!" Talik responded in shock. He was holding a wounded arm close to his body, blood seeping from inbetween his fingers. One of his legs was soaked red underneath a torn pant leg.

"That doesn't matter right now! I should be asking you how you're _alive_!" Anji exclaimed.

"I was lucky . ." he began, looking down at his own injuries. "I don't think that guy knew it, but I was only grazed in some places. It looks a lot worse than it is . . None of my vital organs were hit. Something told me I should . . stay down and play dead." His eyes flickered knowingly to Flein, before turning back to Anji again. "I waited until intermission started, and then I ran here, tried to follow where you guys went."

"I'm so happy you're alive . . at least someone made it out okay . ." Anji sighed. Talik turned his attention to Joka, and approached him with an expression of concern.

"How is he?" he asked, looking over his wounds. Talik had a certain softness in his eyes, one in which someone could discern fairly easily that he was more emotional than physical. Flein was surprised he was picked to be part of the team that would save the Kahojila village- a goal that couldn't be met now.

"I . . . don't know . . " Anji said slowly, and Flein could tell she was on the verge of crying. She looked as though she wanted to say something more, but she most likely didn't trust herself to speak without a tear escaping.

"Hm. In that case," Talik began without looking at Anji, and held his hands slightly above the man below him as if contemplating which puncture hole to cover. "I can try to tend to his injuries."

"Really?!" Anji drew in her breath sharply, like she was able to breathe again for the first time. "But you should work on your own wounds first! You're still . . . bleeding . ." She stumbled over her last word, as if she were about to become ill. Flein hoped she wouldn't have another panic attack like she had at the Opening Ceremonies.

"I've already dishonored our village by not standing up and fighting when I could have." Talik said sternly, looking at Anji. "The least I can do is make sure one more survives."

"You would have died if you stood up and fought that demon." Flein said, and Talik and Anji turned to look at her as if noticing her there for the first time. "There's a difference between courage and stupidity. You had no chance of winning- it's better that you stayed down." Talik looked into her eyes for a moment without blinking, before turning his gaze to the floor in doubtful contemplation. "Also, I've already thought about helping Joka recover- we would need bandages and other supplies, and I don't know where they could be."

"Oh, we don't need any of that!" Anji smiled, before turning her head to Talik. "Joka sure is lucky that _you're _the one who happened to survive!" Talik returned her smile tentatively, and then looked at Flein as if he were withholding a fun secret from her.

"Come here and watch."

Flein stood up and moved closer to the wolf demons, as Talik looked over Joka's wounds again carefully. Finally, he removed a piece of tattered cloth from one of the dime-sized holes in Joka's body, and placed his palm directly upon it. An eerie blue light shone from underneath his hand, and Flein could feel warmth coming from it. After a few minutes, Talik removed his hand from Joka's bare chest. The severe wound that had been there just moments before now looked as though someone had simply stabbed a sharp pencil into the man in a fit of anger.

"That's about as much as I'll do for each one for now." Talik breathed. The perspiration on his face would reveal that the man had taken a jog around the stadium, yet he was still standing completely still. "It's enough to stop the bleeding. He'll survive."

"Oh, _thank_ you, Talik!" Anji ran to her friend again, but this time she wrapped her arms around him tightly, unabashed. Talik looked away in embarrassment, and patted her head awkwardly a few times. Flein thought it was quite a strange reaction to a simple hug.

"It will take a while." Talik informed Anji when she released him from the unwanted embrace. "You probably don't have to stay here the entire time."

"I want to be here when he wakes up!" Anji said decisively, and planted her rear firmly on the top part of the bench Joka was laying on. She stared at his face below her, as if the man's eyes would open at any moment.

"But we still need to find another team member." Flein reminded the determined girl. Butterflies were swarming in her stomach as she thought of the possibility that Anji would devote all of her attention to her companions from now on, and not to Team Musakui. The butterflies flew around even faster when it occurred to her that Anji could simply return home after Joka recovered. She had found what she came to Hanging Neck Island for, and she had completed her goal- there was no reason for her to stay anymore.

"I don't want to leave him . ." Anji said, anxiety coating her voice. These were the words Flein was afraid to hear.

"You should go, Anji. Let me take care of this on my own." Talik said, now working on another one of Joka's wounds near his abdomen. Flein sighed in relief. At least there was one person on her side.

"Hmmm . . all right . ." Anji said hesitantly, and reluctantly stood up from her designated spot at the top of the bench. "But make sure you tend to yourself, too."

Talik nodded in response, and Anji returned to Flein's side, her eyes lingering on Joka's motionless form. Flein left the room quickly with Anji following closely behind. She didn't want her friend to get any second thoughts about staying. They headed to the outer area of the stadium, where numerous demons were loitering without any clear purpose. Flein was about to ask Anji why there were so many demons milling around now than before, when she remembered they were having a lengthy intermission.

"Maybe this intermission will easily help us find a new teammate." she said to her canine companion. Anji looked at the dirt in front of her feet without responding, her mind clearly on other matters. Flein shoved the stomach butterflies down before they could rise again, and struggled to break the silence. "I bet you're happy you found Joka."

"Yes!" Anji replied, finally looking up from her feet. "I'm really lucky. I know it seems like I'm being pretty reckless but . ." Flein guessed she was referring to the time in which she stepped in front of Joka, blocking him from harm. "Joka has really done a lot for me over the years, even though I didn't notice it at the time. I guess I'm just trying to pay it back in some way."

The emphasis the girl put on "years" piqued Flein's curiosity. "Exactly how many years have you known Joka?"

"Hmmm . ." Anji looked to the sky, one finger placed thoughtfully on her chin. "Maybe about . . 1,500 years? I know we met when I was around 200 . ."

Flein chuckled to herself. "You guys are young."

"Maybe we're young," Anji conceded after some hesitation. "But I feel like we've known each other for longer. I guess it's only because I know him so well that I knew to come here. He was acting pretty strange the day that he left for Hanging Neck Island . ."


	22. Chapter 22: Night Visitor

Author's Note: This chapter is Anji's flashback from the past, from before she left her village to go to Hanging Neck Island.

Everything is told from Anji's point of view!

The next chapter will resume in the present as normal.

Chapter 22: Night Visitor

A sharp knocking sound jolted her awake from a deep slumber. At first, Anji couldn't tell where it was coming from; the door to her bedroom? Was her mother waking her up for some reason? It was quite late- Anji could tell by the loudness of the crickets outside compared to the silence of everyone else in the village sleeping. If her mother was waking her up, it had to be important.

Another knock. This time faster, more impatient. Now that she was no longer half-asleep, Anji could tell it was coming from the window. That was a different story.

The feeling of terror suddenly washed over her like a sudden splash of cold water, and she shot up in bed. She felt her tail attempt to tuck underneath her. Who would be knocking at her window at this time of night? It could only be someone who was going to brutally murder her, Anji was sure of it. Someone with a gun, a hammer, a crowbar, anything that would cause her the most pain possible before she died- maybe they wouldn't even kill her, maybe they would just leave her beaten and broken on her bedroom floor before setting her house on fire and burning her and her mother alive. Maybe the cat demons were finally fed up with giving their canine pals a fair warning and decided to just raid the village and take the land for themselves the hard way.

The bloodthirsty stranger knocked on the window again. The sound was almost deafening in her quiet room. She dared not move. She didn't even think she _could_ move if she wanted to. After a short pause, there was another knock, in an almost musical tone. _Knock knock-knock knock-knock knock knock_. The rhythm reminded Anji of morse code. It was a familiar rhythm. As soon as she heard it, it brought her back to her childhood, on those long summer days.

The fear left her as quickly as it came and Anji stomped to the window and yanked it open.

"Joka! What are you doing?!" she yelled down at her friend, who was clinging to the lattice that lined the side of her house. He looked up and merely grinned at her, his black bangs falling across his amber eyes.

"Climbing up to your room, what does it look like?!" He made his way up the rest of the lattice and climbed through her window, Anji backing up to make room.

"You scared the shit outta me!" she scolded him, her face warm. She rarely cursed, but she was shooken up. Even though she was no longer scared, her body hadn't recovered, and she could feel her arms trembling.

"Sorry!" Joka grinned at her, scratching his head. He wasn't sorry at all, and they both knew it. "I forgot our little code."

"If you'd just done that, I wouldn't have been scared so badly . ." Anji explained, sitting back down on her bed. She was starting to calm down now, but she still could have done without the night scare. "I thought you were a _cat demon,_ you know."

"Really?!" He hooted a burst of laughter so loud, that Anji had to shush him at least seven times. She didn't want her mother coming up here to find Joka in her bedroom. They were far too old for that now without it being awkward and highly suspicious. "You thought I was a cat demon?! That's priceless!"

"It's not funny!" she insisted, gripping the sides of her bed. She felt her voice reaching that pitch that it usually goes to when Joka isn't taking her seriously enough. Her voice goes to that pitch more times than she'd like to admit.

"It totally is!" he said, catching his breath after having doubled over at her expense. His black tail was wagging as fast as a bullet train. Anji wondered if his tail ever got tired of consistently wagging. "You're always so anxious and paranoid about the weirdest stuff! And hey, it's been at least a thousand _years_ since I climbed up here. Can you blame me for forgetting the code?"

"I always remembered it . ." Anji mumbled. "Besides, it's weird that you're climbing up here now. It was okay when we were kids, but you can't just come into a girl's room like that!"

"Why, what are you girls hiding?" Joka smiled and started picking up objects in her room at random, brushing them aside when he found them uninteresting. "Let's see, a hairbrush, how forbidden! And oh look, a book, _that's_ new! I never knew a girl's room was so _different_ and _interesting_."

"Oh, cut it out. You know why it's weird." Anji said, her face growing hot from his teasing. The society in their village was strict with unplanned relationships. Only certain couples are allowed to have children, and have to be approved by the village chief. Therefore, even though unapproved people becoming a couple is not forbidden, other villagers automatically suspect that a couple will want to have a child illegally. Anji couldn't count the number of times she had to tell nosey villagers that no, she and Joka are not a couple and no, they weren't planning to have children. Having a guy in her room felt equivalent to breaking some unspoken law. "And stop that, you're messing up my stuff."

Joka stopped rummaging through her items and turned a crooked grin toward her. "Oh I'm sorry, did I move your stuff two inches to the right? Nice outfit, by the way."

Anji looked down at herself and saw her own pale, bare legs. She felt her face get so hot that she thought she might have to dunk her head in cold water, and she was grateful that it was dim in the room so that Joka wouldn't get to tease her about it. She felt like immediately throwing a cover over herself, but that would seem weird and desperate.

"_Why did I choose tonight of all nights to wear my only pair of shorts?_" she thought, silently cursing Joka again for coming in unexpectantly. Modesty was another thing that was extremely valued in their culture. Not only because it was necessary- their region could get bitterly cold so they needed to bundle up to survive- but because it was looked down upon to show too much skin when it is not only to your life mate. Anji saved her shorts for the rare warm nights that they got in the summer.

"Oh, shut up." Anji said, refusing to look him in the eyes. "It's your fault for barging into my room like this . . Why did you come up here in the middle of the night anyway? And don't say 'boredom'."

"What happens if I say 'boredom'?" Joka challenged, bending down towards her. His tail was still wagging. It made a _swish swish swish _sound against his denim pants.

Anji smiled mischeviously. "I'll yank on that annoying tail of yours." Even though Joka hadn't said "boredom" yet, she couldn't resist leaping up from the bed and trying to circle around him sneakily.

"No no no no, not the tail!" he laughed, keeping his front to her and attempting to cover his tail with his hands. It squirmed under his hands, like some sort of animal trying to break free. Anji used to be so good at grabbing that fast tail of his when they were kids. Sometimes she still tried to do it, but he was too quick for her now. But one of these days, she thought she'd be able to catch him unguarded.

She left him alone for now, and crossed her arms. "So? Tell me why you're here."

"Mmm, no reason." Joka replied, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. He was lying. He always shoved his hands in his pockets when he was lying.

"Liar." Anji called him out on it, pointing accusingly at his chest. "You wouldn't come up here after so many years, in the middle of the night on top of that." Plus, Joka was playful and risky and liked to challenge the rules as much as the next troublemaker, but he was far from stupid. At their age, if someone spotted him climbing up to her room secretly in the middle of the night, they would face consequences. Nobody would believe them if they said it was just a friendly nighttime visit. It had to be something important.

"It's nothing, really!" Joka insisted. If he could dig his hands any deeper in his pockets, he would. "I couldn't sleep and I . . just wanted to see if I could still climb up here, that's all." Anji stared at him with an unchanging expression. This prompted him to defend himself more. "No really, it's harder than you think to climb up here! I've had to memorize where all of the loose spots in the lattice are. One wrong step and I could fall. It's serious stuff."

"Out with it!" Anji spat, tapping her foot. He knew that she knew something was up already. No use continuing the charade.

Joka sighed, his playful demeanor slowly slipping off of him. He looked absentmindedly at her dresser instead of at her. "If there was ever a real fight, or any real danger . . do you think I could handle it?" he asked, his voice suddenly like lead.

"W-what do you mean?" Anji stuttered, her heart dropping to her stomach. It was rare to see Joka like this. Even in serious situations, he always had a grin on his face, always messing around somehow. Even in moments where he should be angry or sad, he always turned it around to make it positive somehow. That was his defense mechanism.

"For example" he began, staring off into space. "if the cat demons suddenly came and attacked this village . . do you think I could hold my own? Fight them off? Protect the ones important to me?" He looked at her when he said this, and for some reason it made Anji's heart flutter around frantically in her stomach.

"Well, yeah, I think so . . you're always the best in training." she said, searching for the correct answer. When wolf demons turn age 500, they must receive mandatory training in fighting and defense. Joka and Anji were both born in a time of war and conflict between wolf demons and cat demons, and the village chief wanted everyone to be prepared in case of an attack. Joka always got top marks in his fighting skills, while Anji regrettably received only below average marks. She believed Joka would be able to hold his own in any fight- the issue is is whether he'd _want_ to. "Why are you so serious, anyway? You always get so scary when you're like this . ."

"Heh. Sorry. I don't mean to scare ya." Joka smiled, returning to his usual self at the snap of a finger. It was like his default setting. "I just . . had a bad dream, that's all. Seeing you made me feel better." Anji's heart fluttered back up to her chest. He seemed to be honest this time. It was rare when they were honest with each other enough to share their feelings- it made her feel strange, as if she couldn't adapt. He looked around her bedroom, his eyes landing on all of the small changes she's made in the long years he hadn't been here. "It'll be a while before it's like this again." She thought he was referring to being in the room, but his eyes were looking at her when he said it.

"Does this mean you're planning to come up here _again_?" Anji joked with him anyway. "I don't think my heart can handle the persistent knocking at night."

"Why not? This place is so _interesting_ after all. That's why it's forbidden. No fun allowed." Joka grinned, heading toward the window. "Besides, if you're gonna be in shorts every time I come up here, then I'm going to be climbing this lattice more often."

"Get out of here!" Anji whined, subconsciously pulling down her shorts, even though they wouldn't stretch any further.

"Fine, fine. You're no fun either." Joka said, lifting his leg over the window sill. "Oh and . . be good, okay? In other words, don't do anything I would do." He smiled and began to climb carefully back down the old lattice.

"Do I ever? Besides, what are you talking about, we're seeing each other tomorrow." Anji said, standing next to the window to see him off. They were scheduled to be sparring partners in training tomorrow. Sometimes the coaches believed that putting a weak fighter against a strong one would cause improvement in the former's case. In her case, they were always wrong. It didn't help that training with Joka always ended up turning into some spontaneous game.

Joka stopped and looked up at her. "Maybe." He jumped down the rest of the way and landed on his feet on the ground, without saying another word.

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?! You better not be thinking of skipping tomorrow!" she yelled after him as he headed towards his home, which was two houses down from where she lived. He simply turned back at her and waved, before turning back around and walking away, his head down.

"That jerk . ." Anji muttered, shutting the window to block the chilly night air. If he skipped tomorrow, she would be paired with someone random. She hated sparring with strangers.

She crawled back into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, thinking about Joka's weird insecure moment in her bedroom earlier. Thinking about it now, she couldn't believe it wasn't a dream, or something she made up in her head. Since when did Joka ever talk about protecting "the ones important to him" for no reason?

She fell asleep pretending that he was referring to her.


	23. Chapter 23: Dwindling Numbers

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! Thank you for all of the kind reviews and continuing support!

A special note to all of the readers: Team Musakui needs original characters to fight against!

If you'd like to see your own OC in the story, whether it is based on yourself or someone you made up, please PM me their bio (appearance, personality, powers, etc) and what you'd like their fate to be! =P (in other words, I won't shame or kill your character unless you're okay with it!)

CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CREATORS!

Enjoy, and check out YYHTheLostChapters on DeviantArt for pretty pictures!

Chapter 23: Dwindling Numbers

"That's it? He didn't tell you anything about where he was going?"

Anji shook her head slowly. "It was only until the next day that I was told that Joka and the rest of Team Kahojila left to compete in the Dark Tournament." Her blue eyes trailed to the ground below her feet. They had been walking around the stadium for quite a while now, the potential candidates for a teammate slowly decreasing. "That explains why he was acting so strange the night before- like he'd never see me again."

"Well, he was wrong." Flein stated with a smile, causing Anji to look up. She returned her friend's smile with a small one of her own.

"Looks like intermission's over. I guess everyone went back inside to watch the next match."" Anji said, noticing the small crowd. "Sorry, I talked too much . . We should have been looking for someone instead."

"It's fine." Flein assured her. She had to admit that she was too absorbed in Anji's story to notice the time flying by. "There's a possibility that Kirda and Rei found someone."

"I hope so . ." the wolf demon said, her forehead creasing in an expression of doubt.

"Should we go back and check on Joka? Maybe he's woken up." Flein said, willing the light to go back in her companion's eyes. She knew the girl would still be kicking herself for wasting time, despite Flein's reassurance.

"Do you think so?" Anji asked, almost gleefully. The two turned around and headed back the way they came, Flein attempting to keep up with Anji's brisk pace.

Upon arriving near their destination, Flein could already make out two figures standing near the entrance to the room Joka was being kept in, one slightly hunched over upon the other one. Squinting, she could see that one had dark hair, and the other one blonde. "Is that-?"

"Joka!" Anji cried, completing Flein's question. She broke out into a fast-paced walk, heading toward her injured friend. Joka's head turned toward her, his amber eyes widening.

"Anji! What are you _doing_ here?!" he said, attempting to straighten himself up. He winced with the effort, returning to his hunched over position. Flein could tell just by the tone of his voice that this wasn't new information to him- he was already past being surprised. Now he was angry.

"You shouldn't be out of bed yet!" Anji retorted, ignoring his question. She glared accusingly at Talik, who was supporting Joka from underneath his right shoulder with some difficulty.

"I couldn't stop him!" the blonde explained sheepishly, a drop of sweat sliding slowly down his cheek. "Once he knew you were here, he was trying to limp out of the room to find you!"

"You shouldn't be here." Joka said with urgency, as if neither of them had spoken. "This place is dangerous. The demons here, they-" His sentence was cut short as his eyes finally landed on the cat demon standing beside Anji. His voice suddenly turned cold, making his tone before seem caring in comparison. "Who are you?"

"This . . . this is my friend Flein." Anji said hesitantly, her eyes wide. She was staring at Joka with an expression almost similar to fear, or at the very least as if her longtime friend had suddenly transformed into someone else.

"Nice to meet y-"

"Your _friend_?" Joka gasped, interrupting Flein's introduction. He sighed and brought his hand to his forehead, as if he had just found his beloved pet dog chewing on the slippers for the sixth time. "But Anji, she's-"

"I _know_ what she is." Anji said before Joka could finish. Flein was beginning to feel like the unwanted child of an unhappy marriage. She shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, trying to come up with a way to break the tension without causing Joka to distrust her more. "She's fine. She's not like the others. Trust me."

Joka was already shaking his head. "You're too trusting, Anji. They're the reason we're _here_." He pointed an accusatory finger at Flein's nose without looking at her. "They're the reason we have to fight. They're the reason why _three of us are gone now_. How can you even _stand_ her presence after what happened today?"

Anji shrunk back as if she were pinched roughly on the chest. The memory of Elder Toguro's flesh puncturing the members of Team Kahojila was one she obviously preferred shoved deep in the recesses of her mind. "Joka, I _swear_, she-"

"Ahem."

The quarreling wolf demons stopped speaking abruptly and turned their gaze toward Flein. She'd had enough of sitting back and being polite- she was going to defend herself.

"I'm sorry, but first of all, _I'm_ not the one who killed your teammates. Or the people in your village, or anyone else involved. I've never even met another cat demon, so whatever their agenda is, I'm not a part of it." she explained slowly but firmly. "Second of all, I actually helped Anji find you by having her join my team. Otherwise-"

"Hold up a minute. You joined her _team_?!"

So much for having no interruptions. Flein supposed she was lucky to have gotten past her first point.

"As in a _fighting_ team?!" Joka continued incredulously. This time a little bit of amusement creeped up into the glimmer of his eyes- Flein could see it, but just barely. Somehow, trapped underneath all his anger, a laugh was trying to surface.

Anji didn't seem to notice. "It was the only way I could find you! I didn't have a spectator ticket. How else was I supposed to get in the stadium?"

"Anji, she's _using_ you." Joka stressed, the laugh shoved back down with some effort.

"Actually I'd say we're using each other-" Flein began, but Joka was already taking Anji's arm in his hand, while straightening up and putting weight on both of his feet. Talik sighed with relief underneath him as the weight was lifted from his shoulder.

"Come on. Let's get ready. We're going home tomorrow."

"Joka! Please! I know it looks bad but just listen!" Anji protested as she followed reluctantly at his side.

"Wait!" Flein called at his back. She wasn't going to let things end like this if she could help it. "Just let me prove myself somehow!"

Joka stopped in his tracks, and at first Flein thought she had a chance. Some way to make herself trustworthy. Instead, he turned around slowly, his amber eyes ice cold, and said with deliberation, "Don't come near my friend again."

He turned around without a second glance, his hand still protectively wrapped around Anji's arm. Talik looked at Flein with pity before turning around and following the other wolf demons. Anji's apologetic eyes never left Flein's, and her expression conveyed complete hopelessness.

The feeling was justified. Any more protests from either of them would only make the situation worse, serving to make Flein appear increasingly untrustworthy. Joka had already made up his mind. All she could do was watch her friend get farther and farther away, until she was left in the empty corridor, alone.

Flein stood in the dark hallway, leaning her back up against the concrete wall. Her keen eyes could pick up every shape, every movement, even though all of the lights had been turned off in the stadium. Matches were over for the day- the halls were completely silent, although Flein could still hear a distant dripping noise, and the rustle of someone still slinking around.

Nightfall was the agreed upon time to meet Kirda and Rei inside the stadium with any potential teammates found, although it seemed like a decade ago that the sun had set over Hanging Neck Island. At this point, Flein was completely relying on the two girls to find another member of Team Musakui. Since the unfortunate situation with Anji and Joka, Flein couldn't manage to work up the motivation to even _speak_ with another person.

Flein slid down the wall until she was sitting on the cold floor, her patience almost completely exhausted after the day's events. She wished desperately that there was a clock nearby, anything that could tell her how long she had been waiting. She was starting to wonder if the passage of time was only exaggerated by her own restlessness.

"_Maybe they went back to the hotel_." Flein wondered, bringing her knees to her chest. It would be just like Rei to give up and march back to the comfort of their hotel room, trampling anyone in her way. But she doubted Kirda would ever leave Flein to wait by herself.

Someone grunted deeply a few feet away from her, before skittering back into the shadows. Flein wrapped her arms tighter around her shivering legs, that familiar tingling sensation of anxiety growing stronger by the minute. "_I can't sit here like this for much longer._" she thought, looking warily at her surroundings. "_I'm an easy target_." She stood up slowly, patting down the back of her shorts, and headed quickly out of the dark stadium and into the night air.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips once she was out in the open, and for a moment she just stood there wordlessly, staring at the stars. She had walked away from their meeting place out of instinct, and now she was at a loss for what to do next. "_I guess I can head to the hotel room myself._" she thought. "_If they can't find me, they'll likely head there as well._" In the end, they all had to sleep at some point.

Satisfied with her decision, she followed the trail into the forest, her eyes picking up every landmark required to find her way to the hotel. Just the thought of getting lost out here at this time of night made her almost long for the dark corridors of the stadium.

Her thoughts wandered to Anji. Flein couldn't help but wonder if she had left anything important in their hotel room. She wondered if she was sleeping in Team Kahojila's room tonight. If she were arguing with Joka at this very moment. Or if they were all sitting in awkward silence, contemplating on how to tell their village about their failure. She supposed it didn't matter at this point.

Just as she passed the familiar slanted rock that showed she was getting close, Flein heard a sharp cracking sound coming from the forest, like a twig snapping under someone's foot. She quickened her pace, almost tripping over an overgrown root. Another twig snapped, followed by a rustle. Footsteps. Many of them.

Flein was practically running now, convinced that a horde of savage murderers were pursuing her from the forest. "_I was almost there- why does this have to happen now?!_" she thought, this time jumping over a mossy tree log.

"FLEIN!"

She skidded to a stop so abruptly that she almost fell forward, whipping around toward the familiar voice. "Kirda?!"

Her braid was partly undone, her black hair unfurling at the bottom. Dirt marked her face and her arms in uneven patches, and the top button of her shirt was missing. "Flein! There you are!"

Flein was wrapped in an embrace, the smell of dirt and tree bark wafting into her nose. "What happened?!"

"It was so crazy-!" Kirda began, before pausing and shifting her eyes to the left and right of Flein. "Where's Anji?"

She opened her mouth reluctantly, being far more curious about Kirda's story than telling her own at the moment. But before she could utter a sound, the two figures appearing behind Kirda left Flein speechless.

Walking out of the dense forest like a shadow, Hiei from Team Urameshi examined Flein briefly before glancing over to his red-haired teammate who was only a few steps behind him. Flein recognized the demon as the one who had caused colorful flowers to burst from Roto's insides. But the appearance of the two strong fighters were not what caused Flein to be unable to form words.

There, being carried gently in the taller demon's arms, was the motionless form of Rei.


	24. Chapter 24: Team Urameshi

Author's Note:

A special note to all of the readers: Team Musakui needs original characters to fight against!

If you'd like to see your own OC in the story, whether it is based on yourself or someone you made up, please PM me their bio (appearance, personality, powers, etc) and what you'd like their fate to be! =P (in other words, I won't shame or kill your character unless you're okay with it!)

CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CREATORS!

Enjoy, and check out YYHTheLostChapters on DeviantArt for pretty pictures!

Chapter 24: Team Urameshi

"Wh-what the-"

A shot of adrenaline coursed its way up Flein's back, before spreading to her arms and legs. She swiftly grabbed the handle of the sheathed sword at her side.

"It's okay! It's okay." Kirda said quickly, grabbing Flein's arm before she could draw her sword. "They helped us!"

Flein arched an eyebrow, staring suspiciously at the long-haired demon holding Rei's limp body. He smiled in response, a bemused expression creeping onto his face. "Looks like your friends got in a bit of trouble with some of the more _unsavory_ demons."

"Well, we tried to get them to join our team!" Kirda exclaimed, eager to jump in and tell the story before the mysterious demon could elaborate. In the corner of her eye, Flein could see Hiei had his hand on his sword, his bright red eyes watching her warily. She blinked in confusion, before realizing that she had never removed her hand from the handle of her _own_ sword. Once doing so, Hiei calmly returned his hand to his side, flinching slightly. His arm was wrapped tightly in bandages- a clear result of the Dragon of the Darkness Flame he exhibited earlier. "-but then they suddenly just _attacked_ us! Out of nowhere!"

"You're lucky Kurama enjoys dabbling in such mundane activities." Hiei said bluntly, turning an exasperated glance to his teammate. His body language made it clear that he was an unwilling participant of Rei's heroic rescue. He then nodded his head in Rei's direction, who still lay unconscious in Kurama's arms. "Your friend here was trying to get herself killed."

His voice was dripping with contempt, and just hearing it made Flein feel like hiding in shame. "_What in the hell did she do to embarrass us this time?_" she thought, concealing half of her face with her hand. "I don't think she was _trying_, that's the sad part. At least if she were trying, that would mean she almost succeeded in something."

Kurama blinked at her in polite surprise, and her stomach dropped as she realized she had said that aloud instead of thinking it. Hiei simply turned his gaze to the forest with feigned disinterest, but Flein thought she could see something resembling amusement in his eyes.

"You should endeavor to be more careful in the future." Kurama advised, choosing to tactfully ignore the previous comment. He approached her expectantly, slightly holding her teammate away from his body. "You never know what kind opponent you may have."

"_Is . . is he expecting me to take her?_" Flein thought, almost holding out her arms as an automatic response. "_But . . I don't want to carry her!_" She was stronger than her size implied, but she wasn't even sure how she'd be able to carry Rei's 5'7" stature- and that didn't even include the weight of her dress.

"Mmmm . . ."

The noise was only slightly audible, but it was enough to make Flein's ear twitch. She looked down to see Rei's brown eyes opening slowly, looking at her surroundings without comprehending them. This drowsy state didn't last long, as they snapped open in complete shock upon glimpsing who was carrying her. Even under the heavy make-up, a bright red blush was clearly visible on her cheeks.

Kurama soon noticed Flein's distracted gaze, and followed her line of sight to Rei's face. Just before his green eyes met hers, Rei's eyelids drooped again, as if just waking up. The alertness in her eyes just milliseconds before seemed to be wiped clear from her face.

"Oh . . where am I?" she asked softly, fluttering her eyelashes weakly. Flein turned away and rolled her eyes. Why couldn't she have had more time to enjoy Rei being unconscious?

"Ah, she wakes. Can you walk?" Kurama asked in a caring tone, although he seemed eager to try to set her down before she could answer.

Rei's feet landed evenly upon the dirt below, and she involuntarily stood on her own for a few seconds before suddenly falling daintily onto her knees for seemingly no reason. "I don't know . . My legs feel weak . ." she murmured, placing the back of her palm upon her forehead.

Flein's hand twitched in anticipation- there was so much desire to facepalm. Hiei glared even harder into the depths of the forest, as if he wanted to bore a hole into several of the trees. He almost made the act of ignoring someone look like a demanding sport.

"Well . ." Kurama began, bending down to lift Rei into his arms again. The motion was stoic, like a robot lifting a light sack of potatoes. Rei eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck, her lips forming a small victorious smile. "I can carry her to your hotel room, if you so desire. We can't rightly leave her like this, can we?"

He grinned playfully in Hiei's direction, who uncrossed his arms and stared exasperatedly at Kurama in one swift motion. "You've got to be kidding-"

"You don't have to do that!" Both Flein and Kirda exclaimed simultaneously, their voices almost reaching a yell. Flein didn't think she could bear any more embarrassment today. Plus, there was a small part of her that wanted to save Hiei. She had a feeling Kurama enjoyed putting him into socially uncomfortable situations like this- just to watch him squirm.

"Flein and I can probably support her with our shoulders!" Kirda assured him. She left out the part that it would still be difficult for them if Rei decided not to help by walking a little.

Almost as if on cue, Rei suddenly went completely limp, her head dipping backwards, her arms sliding down Kurama's shoulders and falling to her sides. The sudden increase in weight almost caused Kurama to drop her completely. Flein almost cursed under her breath when he managed not to.

"I . . I'm sorry . ." Rei mumbled, weakly lifting her head back up. "I feel like I just went unconscious for a second . ."

"Er . . I believe your friend's _condition _requires a bit more support." Kurama said, struggling to lift her back up into a manageable position. "Let me handle it until we get to your hotel room."

"_He knows_." Flein thought, feeling more sure about this than any other situation that occurred that day. "_He's aware what Rei's doing- might have even known ever since she opened her eyes. Right now he's just saving her embarrassment_." The fact that he saw through Rei's act was more embarrassing than when Flein thought he hadn't. It was unfortunate that Rei herself couldn't seem to share any of the shame.

Kirda stepped in front of the group to lead the way, while Hiei and Flein trailed behind, lost in their own world of mental torture. His head was angled away from her the entire trip there, but she could hear a slight agitated sigh as they stepped through the entrance of the hotel.

Kurama plopped the unneeded baggage on the couch, despite some parts of it still clinging to him. Rei straightened her bangs with her fingers with a disgruntled expression, most likely realizing there was little she could do to prolong Kurama's embrace.

"Thanks again for doing this." Flein repeated, holding the door open for Hiei who seemed to want to linger in the hallway. She stubbornly held the doorknob in her palms until he finally relented and entered their room, scanning the environment with disinterest even though there was nothing much to see besides the hotel furniture. Flein didn't want to be accused of slamming a door in his face in the future- he was the last person she wanted to have a grudge against her. Besides maybe Elder Toguro.

"It was really no problem at all." Kurama assured her. "It was an entertaining addition to our training, wasn't it Hiei?"

"It was more like an interruption." he corrected, staring out the window. The view from their hotel room wasn't that interesting- unless perhaps one wanted to watch the sun rise.

"Well I'm afraid we must take our lea-"

"_There_ they are!"

Kurama was interrupted abruptly by a gruff voice, followed by an orange-haired man bursting into the room. Close behind him was another man- Flein immediately recognized him as Yusuke, the fighter who took down Chu and then preceded to flip off the audience. It suddenly dawned on her that almost the entirety of Team Urameshi was suddenly in their hotel room.

Flein and Kirda exchanged a bewildered glance.

"Hey, where you guys been? We've been looking all over for you!" Yusuke exclaimed, absent-mindedly flopping down on the couch beside Rei. She drew up her knees against her chest, looking at the new visitor apprehensively.

"Off all by themselves, doing sneaky _demon_ things!" his hard-featured friend sneered, glaring pointedly at Kurama with his fists on his hips. Then his beady eyes widened in realization, before turning around to spot the female presence in the room. "Whoa, there are _girls_! Don't tell me you guys snuck off to hang out with _chicks without us?!_" His voice cracked, as it neared shrieking levels.

"Quiet, you baffoon!" Hiei snapped. The volume of his teammate's voice seemed to make him visibly wince. "And it wasn't intentional, I assure you."

"You've got shit memory, Kuwabara." Yusuke said, leaning back on the couch with his arms relaxed behind his head. Even though he hadn't glanced at them, he knew the members of Team Musakui were there as soon as he entered the room. "These are the ones from earlier."

"Hey there, pretty lady." Kuwabara crooned, ignoring Yusuke's comment and slinking over to Rei. His features distorted into something even more foul-looking than usual. "You wanna experience the _power of love_?"

Rei's lip curled into a look of disgust, and she pressed herself firmly against the back of the couch. She seemed to have recovered quickly from her supposed fainting episode from earlier. "Not from _you_."

Kuwabara frowned as Yusuke erupted into a fit of laughter, his hand over his stomach. "You'd better quit now while you're ahead!"

"Shut up Urameshi, I still got two more chances!" Kuwabara cried, sidling over to where Kirda stood near the sofa.

"I don't think so, but you can try, by all means!" Kirda smirked, clearly looking forward to whatever Kuwabara had in mind to sweep her off her feet.

"Wow, rejected before he even began." Yusuke said, wiping tears from his eyes. "Kuwabara, I think that's a new record!"

"Shut _up_, Urameshi!" Kuwabara demanded, his voice cracking again. "You're the one throwing off my game!"

"Sure, that's what it is." Kirda said slyly, stifling laughter.

"I think you do that all by yourself, Kuwabara."

"_URAMESHI!_"

Flein couldn't help but smile at their banter, as soon even Kuwabara's target was forgotten in the chaos. Her eyes slid over to the two male demons in the room, who had remained mostly silent. Kurama was staring at his two human teammates with a bemused smile, while Hiei seemed to be transfixed on what was going on outside, one of his hands planted firmly on the windowsill, while the bandaged one remained halfway hidden in his pocket.

Looking at his injured arm reminded Flein that she still wore his scarf from the battle, a garment that she kept forgetting she had. Although now it was embarrassingly dirty in some places, she wondered if she should return it to him.

She glanced back at the humans, who were now playfully wrestling on the couch, a frightened and disgruntled Rei attempting to climb off the back of it and out of the way. Kirda and Kurama looked on with amusement as the two young men, who were just recently injured in the day's match, took light swings at each other.

Flein was grateful for the distraction, and swallowed hard as she approached Hiei slowly, trying to come up with a normal explanation as to why she had been wearing his scarf. She could see the reflection of his face in the glass, staring straight ahead at the trees below, without really seeing them.

"Um . . I found this earlier . . I think it's yours." she said, her voice coming out much softer than she wanted it to. Hiei didn't budge an inch, nor did his gaze land on her, even through the reflection. She wondered for a second if maybe he didn't hear her- no, it wasn't possible that he didn't hear her from this distance. The question was if he was paying attention.

"_Um_." she said again, much louder this time. He blinked but did not turn her way- it was clear now that he had heard her.

"_Is he ignoring me? Did rescuing Rei really make him that angry?_" she wondered, clearly embarrassed that she had even attempted having a brief conversation with him. Then it hit her- it wasn't that he was ignoring her. He wasn't the type to ignore the details around him- the fact that his hand was on his sword until she lowered hers back when they were in the forest was proof of that. It was simply that he didn't believe she was addressing _him_. Among all of the chaos, a stranger was probably the least likely to ignore the quarrel in the middle of the room and instead speak to the one hiding in the corner.

"_All right then, I'll just say his name_." Flein thought. She was determined to find out whether or not he was truly ignoring her. But the thought of calling out his name somehow made her feel nervous. However, if there was even a slight chance he was aware she was speaking to him, and he witnessed her just slinking off in defeat after not getting a response- she couldn't bear him thinking of her like that. She was feeling stubborn now- she was going to at least get an acknowledgement.

"Hie-"

"Says you Urameshi, I still got one more chance! And this one has _ears_!"

Suddenly a jolting pain erupted from the top of Flein's head as her black ears were roughly yanked on from behind, bending her head backwards. An unhuman yowl sounded throughout the room, causing her ears to be released immediately.

"What are you DOING?!" This time her voice was much louder than she wanted it to be. She grasped her ears in pain, the tips of them poking out from beneath her fingers. When she wasn't seeing red from beneath her eyelids, she could see in the corner of her eye that she had Hiei's attention now- unfortunately it was for the wrong reason.

"She's even got a tail too! Are you a _kitty_?!" Kuwabara cried gleefully, unable to comprehend the mistake he just made. He hunched over and reached for her black tail, which was protruding from the hole in her shorts. His swift arm motions meant only one thing- he was going to yank on it, and he was going to pull _hard_.

Flein desperately rotated out of his reach, dodging his attempts to snatch the furry tail in his hand. Spinning around in circles, she could make out that Kirda's expression was transforming from an amused one to a concerned one. "_Do something_" she thought, having too much pride to call for help against a human. She didn't exactly want to sock him in the face either- he needed no help having a broken face.

"That's enough, you deranged fool."

All motion stopped as everyone turned toward Hiei, who was now facing Kuwabara, both hands in his pockets.

"What's wrong Hiei? Not used to having fun with girls?" Kuwabara snickered, turning his attention to his much smaller companion. Flein began to breathe again, slowly backing away from him in case he decided he wanted to go for Round 2.

"I worry about your definition of _fun_." Hiei scoffed, walking calmly past Kuwabara and toward the hallway. There was something about the way he walked, eyes forward, hands hidden, that imposed a challenge- as if his back were saying "Come at me. I dare you."

Kuwabara fell for the bait completely. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?!" he cried, stomping out of the room after his teammate.

Hiei's voice could still be heard from the hall. "If by fun you mean grabbing everything you see like a toddler, I'd rather not."

"You wanna fight, pipsqueak?!" Kuwabara's voice faded away as the two got farther and farther down the corridor.

"_Did he just . . lead him away from me?_" Flein thought, rubbing her tender ears. She shook her head. "_No, of course not . . he just wanted to get out of this room . ._"

Yusuke quickly followed after them without a thought, unintentionally forgetting to say goodbye. "He's got a point Kuwabara, you don't know how to do anything else!" His teasing laughter decreased in volume as he trailed further away. Just like that, the chaos left the room as quickly as it came.

"I apologize for the brief disruption." Kurama said. His voice seemed unusually loud now that the room was quiet again. "They can be a rowdy bunch."

"It's fine, it's fine! We can get quite rowdy ourselves." Kirda assured him with a wave of her hand. Rei got up from her position behind the couch, as if to see if the coast was clear.

"I hope for a quick recovery for tomorrow." Kurama said as he noticed her. Rei blushed, hunching over again as if she could hide that she was completely fine before. "Good luck to you all tomorrow."

After a chorus of thank you's, Flein lead Kurama to the door, Rei's eyes following after him longingly. After the door shut behind him, she slumped against the couch as if deflated.

"Well _that_ was fun!" Kirda exclaimed, finally taking her hair completely out of its braid.

"Mostly." Flein said. She could still feel Kuwabara's hard grip on her ears. They throbbed underneath her hands.

"Where's Anji, anyway?" Kirda asked curiously, combing her fingers through her hair.

Flein's stomach twisted with dread. She didn't have the energy to tell the whole story now, not after everything that happened. There was also a small part of her that was worried that Kirda was going to point out something she could have done differently, something that would have caused Anji to be with them right now. She already felt bad enough about the situation- she didn't need to be kicking herself even more.

"We found the friends she was looking for. They were beat up pretty badly, so she's staying with them tonight."

It wasn't exactly a lie.

"Oh. I'm guessing you guys didn't find a teammate either, huh?" Kirda said, wettening her hair with her hands and straightening out the creases. Rei returned to her spot on the couch now, examining her nails thoroughly in silence. Flein would bet her mind was on Kurama. "Then I guess we have to find one more person tomorrow morning before the match."

"Make that two people."

Everyone looked up from themselves to stare at Flein in confusion. She was exhausted, but it would take more effort to keep hiding it.

"Anji's not coming back."


	25. Chapter 25: Making Up

Author's Note:

This chapter is written from Anji's POV. Flein's POV will continue in the next chapter.

A special note to all of the readers: Team Musakui needs original characters to fight against!

If you'd like to see your own OC in the story, whether it is based on yourself or someone you made up, please PM me their bio (appearance, personality, powers, etc) and what you'd like their fate to be! =P (in other words, I won't shame or kill your character unless you're okay with it!)

CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CREATORS!

Enjoy, and check out YYHTheLostChapters on DeviantArt for new pictures!

Chapter 25: Making Up

The second hand ticked away slowly, each one seeming more like a minute as the time passed by in silence. The only other noise in the former Team Kahojila's hotel bedroom was the rustling of Joka going through his bag of clothes and the occasional grunt from Talik, who was healing his small wounds one by one. Sweat rolled down his forehead and slid down the bridge of his nose as he moved his glowing blue hand from the cut on his side to the gash on his arm.

Anji watched him from the other side of the room, making no noise of her own. Her legs were drawn up to her chest, the soles of her feet planted on the seat cushion of the small red armchair that rested in the corner of the bedroom. Her arms circled her legs, and her chin rested comfortably on top of her knees. Her eyes drifted from Talik to the various clothing and other personal objects scattered on the otherwise immaculate carpet. Her heart clenched in pain- not all of them belonged to Joka and Talik. The deceased members of Team Kahojila would never be getting these discarded items back.

Just as she was examining a worn out and faded checkered knapsack, a sigh escaped Joka's lips, interrupting her thoughts. "You don't have to sit there silently like you don't even know me, you know."

Anji's eyes found a good spot on the wall to focus on and fixed upon it, refusing to budge or look at her friend. Truthfully, she had been waiting for the moment when Joka would finally attempt to break the silence- she hadn't uttered a word to him ever since her fifth failed attempt to convince him of Team Musakui's trustworthiness.

"Sometimes I wonder if I _do_ know you." she finally said, after coming to the conclusion that remaining silent in the face of his comment was simply too awkward for all parties. She immediately regretted it, as she could feel her face growing hot in anticipation. She had never argued with Joka before- not like this. They had had their quarrels in the past of course, though none of them had lasted more than a few minutes at most. One trait they both shared was that they both hated conflict.

Anji heard Joka sigh deeply, scratching his head in contemplation. "You _know_ how dangerous they are, Anji." he said. It sounded more like a plea than a statement. It was most likely the tenth time he had said it that day. "You should know that better than anyone."

She stifled a sigh. He was referring to her father.

When someone mentioned her father, the first memory that always came to her mind was not of his smile, his laugh, or the way he lifted her seemingly thousands of feet into the air, causing her to feel like a bird taking flight. Instead, her immediate memory was always of her mother, sitting on the living room couch in silence, a large blanket of dark blue fur spread across her lap, her hand resting on the soft, familiar hair. It was all they had left of him now- they were lucky, considering some wolf demons who had been killed in war with cat demons had never been found.

She supposed she was meant to wear her father's coat in pride, as most war victims' families often do. But she never could bring herself to wrap that warm blue fur around her.

"We're not in our village right now. Some rules don't apply out here." Anji said, bringing herself back to the conversation at hand. "Besides, that's not the point. I'm angry because you didn't believe me when I said Flein is fine. Like my judgment can't be trusted."

"Well, you gotta admit, your judgment is a little off sometimes." Joka said, a smile tinging his voice. Anji finally turned to look at him, and found that he did indeed have a grin on his face, to her surprise. "Remember that time you tried to pet that bear in the woods-"

"We're not going to talk about the bear now . ."

"-and you said it was fine because it was near its cubs so it was happy?"

"That was _years_ ago . ."

"Or that time you tried to swim in the river and the current took you all the way out of the territory?" Joka's tail was wagging now, a familiar sight she hadn't seen since they were home. It almost made Anji want to smile too, even though there were parts of her that were still seething. "And then I had to jump in and get you and we had to walk all the way back to the village soaking wet?"

"Okay, I guess that one happened not too long ago . ." Anji conceded, still remembering the feeling of her head getting pushed under the cold water over and over again. At least on that day she gained the valuable knowledge that she couldn't swim very well. "But this is different. I _know _that Flein and her friends are good."

Joka's smile faded slightly, and he sat at the edge of the bed in heavy contemplation for a minute, his gaze focused on the ceiling above him. Talik had stopped tending to his wounds, and was now staring at Joka as well. Anji couldn't help but feel ashamed that their friend had had to sit there and listen to them either quarrel or ignore each other for the past few hours.

"So . . what exactly were you going to do if you stayed? Fight on their team?" Joka finally said, the smile returning. In seconds, the mood in the room had totally changed. She knew the smile was there to mock her for her abysmal fighting skills, but she knew she was getting close. Somehow, he now seemed to be more open to letting her stay- or at the very least, was finally considering the idea. "You came here to find me and you did, right? You wanna stay and risk your life just to help them out?"

"I agreed to help her and I want to follow through. Plus . ." This was it. He was giving her a chance to convince him- She had to succeed. "You're not the only one thinking about home, you know. If Team Musakui wins, I can wish to help the village too. Then we can take all of this-" Anji leaped from the chair, scooped up the checkered knapsack beside her, and started stuffing discarded clothing and other objects into the bag- wallets, hats, whatever she could find- and held it up high above her head. "- we can take all of this, hold it high in triumph as we walk through the village entrance, and say 'We did it. We lost people, but we did it. Their death was not in vain.'"

The male wolf demons simply stared at her in a mixture of confusion and hollowness, as if wondering if they should clap or not.

"You know, now we're not gonna know what object belonged to who now." Joka said, another wry smile spreading across his face.

Anji finally lowered the faded knapsack. ". . . Oops."

"It's all right." Joka said, standing up and stretching his arms over his head. "We'll just dump all of it out on the table at the next village meeting and say 'Here, take your stuff'."

Anji rolled her eyes. She had to hand it to him- he could make any embarrassing situation change into something lighthearted. Either that, or he could easily make it ten times more embarrassing, depending on his mood.

"That's all inspiring, but I found one tiny flaw in your plan." Joka said, scratching the inside of his ear with his pinky nail. "Last time I checked, you suck at fighting."

Anji exhaled, dropping the knapsack back down beside the armchair. She knew the conversation would eventually steer in this direction. "I _know_ that, but . ."

"That's just why I can't allow you to stay . ." he continued. Anji clenched her fists in frustration, biting her tongue. She was so close! She was so sure she had convinced him to let her continue being a member of Team Musakui- now she was back where she started. " . . . unless your cat demon friend agrees to let me help."

" . . . What?" Her body couldn't keep up- she still had an urge to grit her teeth in anger. She didn't even know if she could trust her own ears. "You want to _help_?"

"You were right- it is our village we're talking about." he explained. "I don't think I should leave its fate in your incapable hands." He grinned, showing good intention despite his light jab at her.

"You really want to join our team?! This is great! We needed another member anyway!" Anji exclaimed, trying to resist jumping up and down. She didn't want to get too excited- she wouldn't put it past Joka to have said this as part of an elaborate joke.

"I can help heal people!" Talik chimed in unexpectedly. Anji had almost forgotten he was there in her excitement. "I want to do what little I can to help the village as well."

Now they even had a healer- things were suddenly falling into place perfectly. "That's great, Talik! I'm sure Flein would be glad to have both of you helping!"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, doubt crept in. She had never considered the idea that the cat demon might be angry at her after their parting. Perhaps she hadn't defended her nearly enough as she should have. More importantly, she was most likely angry with Joka as well- it wasn't the best first impression he had ever given.

Joka didn't notice his friend's complete change in mood. His back facing toward her now, he was sifting through the clothing in his bag. "By the way, I don't want you to think that I believe you're a hopeless case or anything. Like I've said before, you could fight well if you had more of a fighting spirit." He fished out a clean shirt. "But just in case you decide to jump in that river without checking the current again . . I'll be there."

He wasn't looking at her, but she attempted to hide her red face anyway. It was rare that he got sentimental- although she supposed he had been trying to keep her from getting into trouble the whole time, in his own way.

"Besides" he continued, now yanking out a clean pair of black pants from his bag. "I'm not a bad fighter myself."

Anji smiled and plopped back down onto the red armchair. "You don't even like to fight."

"Why fight when you can play?" He explained with a question, dropping his bag back down beside the bed. Anji snorted lightly through her nose and looked away. If it were up to Joka, the Dark Tournament would simply be a large soccer championship- with no winner, just aimless playing. "By the way, while I was unconscious . ."

Anji looked back to find Joka had unabashedly removed his shirt sometime when her eyes were elsewhere. Her heart skipped a beat in surprise and she quickly glanced away, her cheeks hot like fire.

"I was going in and out of consciousness for a while so I don't know if some things were a dream or what . ." Joka continued, unaware of her reaction. Anji kept her head stiffly in place, afraid to look back in case he was still shirtless. From her new point of view she could see Talik still sitting on the other bed, staring and listening to Joka as he spoke.

"_Must be nice . ._" she thought before she could stop herself. Of course it was allowed if a guy looked at another guy. Although she supposed Talik wasn't getting as much enjoyment out of it as she would.

Suddenly her train of thought was interrupted as a bare, muscular chest blocked her line of sight. "Hey, are you even paying attention?"

Anji whipped her head around while simultaneously covering her eyes. The palms of her hands were touching her cheeks, and she could feel the heat radiating through them. "Don't do that! I'm listening!"

"Just makin' sure, since you're not looking at me and acting kinda weird, like you don't want to listen to my amazing story." Joka explained from her right side.

"It's not that . ." she practically whimpered. She really was intent on listening to his story. Although now she wasn't even sure what it was about anymore.

"Oh, I get it." he said, smacking the bottom of his fist on his palm in realization. "Does me being like this make you _uncomfortable_?"

"_Oh god_." she thought, feeling her throat get dry. He was getting tauntingly closer to her. She was starting to realize that she wasn't going to be able to get through him getting dressed without him realizing why she was hiding her face.

"Just put your shirt on!" Anji ordered without answering his question, now comopletely turning her back to him. "Don't you even care you're half naked?"

"Hey, you said we're not in the village, so the rules don't apply anymore, remember?" She heard a belt clatter to the ground, followed by the rustle of cloth falling.

"_Oh god_." She thought again, pressing her hands harder onto her face. He was only using her line as an excuse- Joka never was one to care about the rules. Sometimes she thought he liked breaking them on purpose. Being forbidden to get undressed in front of the opposite sex- even if it was only one item of clothing- was one he thought was particularly pointless. He never seemed to care about being in various forms of undress around others.

"This is different!" Anji exclaimed, turning her head farther away until she was almost facing the back of the chair. Her heart felt like it wanted to hammer out of her chest.

"_Anyway_, as I was saying . ." Joka continued, ignoring her reaction. She could hear him getting farther away from her, and let herself breathe a bit. "I thought I felt something weird while I was unconscious, but I dunno if it was just some weird dream." A rustle of cloth indicated that the clean pair of pants had come on now- but she didn't dare look. She knew better than to think he was completely dressed yet. "Well, to get completely to the point . . did you kiss me while I was knocked out?"

Anji had to grip onto the sides of the armchair to keep herself from falling out of it. "_WHAT?!_" This time she couldn't help it- she ripped her hands away from her face and stared at him in disbelief, and was treated to another view of shirtless Joka. She covered her face again, although this time it was more to conceal the redness of her face.

"You totally did, didn't you?" he laughed. "Probably thought I was going to die . ."

"No."

". . So, as if in a dramatic soap opera, you lean over my lifeless form . ."

"_No_."

". . and as one tear escapes and lands on my cheek . ."

"_No!_"

". . Your lips touch mine in a final farewell . ."

"No no no! I didn't do anything like that!" Anji cried, rotating away from him to the right again. She could see Talik from between the gaps in her fingers- now even he was looking away, his face as red as an apple, trying hard to stare only at the bathroom doorknob.

"_Poor Talik, he has to listen to all of this nonsense_." Anji thought, feeling mortified. She hoped he wasn't having any second thoughts about healing for their team now.

"So how was it? The kiss, I mean." Joka was approaching her again, and she was pretty sure he _still_ hadn't put his shirt on.

"It was like nothing, because there _was_ none." Anji insisted. "Talik can tell you, he was the only one with you the whole time!" Talik seemed to try to shrink into himself in shame, his face somehow getting even redder than before. He was almost as easy to get embarrassed as Anji, but this reaction was extreme even for him. Then it hit her.

"All right then, Talik, she totally planted one on me while I was out, didn't she?" Joka asked, turning to his former teammate, who visibly gulped.

"U-um . ."

"I-I don't know, maybe I did." Anji stuttered, interrupting Talik's response. Talik looked at her in complete shock, his brown eyes wide. She simply winked at him quickly, concealing the gesture behind her hand.

"_HA_! I knew it!" Joka cried. She heard a slight thud of the floor being jumped on, and she knew he was most likely pumping his fist in the air in triumph.

"I said _MAYBE_ I did." she corrected him sternly. "_Oh god, what have I done . ._"

Joka didn't hear her. "Anji, if you wanted to kiss me, you could have just asked."

"Just put your shirt on already!" Anji replied, starting to lose her patience. She was starting to sweat underneath the heat of her hands.

"Actually I think I'll go take a shower!" She could hear him retrieving the clean shirt that was left forgotten on the bed before turning to walk into the bathroom. Whistling, he closed the door behind him.

Anji uncovered her face and took a deep breath of fresh air. "_What have I gotten myself into . ._" she thought, as she heard the shower turn on in the other room. Her cheeks still felt hot, and she wondered if they'd ever be a normal temperature again.

"Thanks . ." It was Talik. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, looking slightly sheepish. ". . for covering for me."

"No problem!" she chirped, trying to recover her usual attitude. She felt like she should say more, but had no idea what would be appropriate."_Smooth move_"? "I _guess now you're my rival_"? "_Wish I could have done it_"? She had to prevent herself from violently shaking her head at the thought of saying any of them.

Before the awkward silence between the two of them could get any longer, Anji jumped up from the chair and started to drag whatever extra blankets she could find to set up on the couch in the living room. She wanted to claim the sleeping spot as her own, before Joka could accuse her of wanting to sleep in the same bed as him as well. The blush fought to creep back into her cheeks at the thought of it.

As she lay down on the couch, her thoughts began to wander, as they tend to do before sleep. "_I have to make sure to go to Team Musakui's room early tomorrow_." she thought, her back slowly sinking into the couch. She hoped Flein would accept them onto the team, and didn't slam the door in her face. Even worse, she hoped they hadn't already found someone else to replace them.

Her eyes drooping, Anji fell into a fitful sleep.


	26. Chapter 26: Team Musakui

Author's Note:

A special note to all of the readers: Team Musakui needs original characters to fight against!

If you'd like to see your own OC in the story, whether it is based on yourself or someone you made up, please PM me their bio (appearance, personality, powers, etc) and what you'd like their fate to be! =P (in other words, I won't shame or kill your character unless you're okay with it!)

CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CREATORS!

Enjoy, and check out YYHTheLostChapters on DeviantArt for new pictures of the characters!

Chapter 26: Team Musakui

_"Here kitty kitty kitty . . ."_

_ Stomp, stomp, stomp._

_ He was coming closer, his blue pantlegs looming over Flein like giants. His form was so gigantic that his face was barely visible from the shadows, but she didn't dare look up. She had to run as fast as she could to keep ahead of him, yet it still seemed like she was running in slow-motion._

_ "Here kitty kitty kitty . . ."_

_ Stomp, stomp, stomp._

_ Flein tripped over air, landing hard on her chest. It was as if a heavy force pushed her down, and the same weight was holding her in place. Despite her best efforts, she unwillingly turned her head behind her to glimpse a large hand advancing down from the shadows, easily three times her size. After it appeared the face, its beady eyes squinting into mere slits, a disgusting smile spreading across hard features._

_ "Here kitty kitty kitty . . ." Kuwabara crooned, his gravelly voice sending vibrations through the small black space, which only seemed to be getting smaller. His immense hand reached lower, hovering just over her tail . ._

_ Stomp, stomp, stomp._

Flein jolted awake, her green eyes snapping wide open. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and cold sweat was dripping down her neck, yet somehow her body had remained completely still despite the shock. It took her a few seconds to recognize her surroundings- lavender curtains draped over the window, a lamp with a red shade on top of a nightstand, a lump under the white sheets in the bed next to her. It was only until the lump stirred and loose strands of black hair fell out of the cocoon and onto the pillow did the memories come back to her.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

Now Flein sat up in bed, the feelings from her nightmare washing over her. It was the exact same noise from her dream- only now it was clear that it was actually knocking, not the stomping sound that her subconscious created.

She slid out of bed, her body still half-awake. Her oversized light green tank top that she wore in lieu of sleepwear had rolled up at some point during the night, and she smoothed it back down over her thighs. Taking a quick peek out of the window, she saw that the sun had only just risen over the horizon, an unearthly glow spread over the trees.

"_Who on earth is knocking so early in the morning?!_" Flein thought, rubbing her left eye with a balled-up fist. Behind her, Kirda shifted inside of her blanket cocoon, but did not wake. Rei was dead to the world, laying flat on her back, her toes aimed at the ceiling. Her messy bun had become almost completely undone.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

Sighing angrily, Flein left the bedroom, being careful to close the door quietly behind her, and headed toward the front door of their hotel room.

_KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK._

"_Don't do that!_"

"_What? No one's responding!_"

"_Maybe they're already gone . ._"

Flein stopped in her tracks halfway across the sitting room as she heard hushed whispers behind the door. But she continued shortly after the initial shock wore off- she recognized these voices.

Joka's knuckles hit thin air as Flein opened the door, and he left his fist hanging there in shock for a few moments before lowering it. Flein could see Talik standing slightly obscured behind him, looking at her curiously. Anji just stared at her former teammate with her mouth slightly open, as if words weren't coming to her. She was wearing a baggy brown sweater that drooped just under her shoulders, which was more skin than Flein was used to seeing from the girl.

Luckily, Flein had no problem supplying words for the speechless wolf demons. "I'm guessing you're here for your bag?" She opened the door wider and gestured to the black bag laying on the couch, which had been neatly and lovingly organized by Kirda the night before. She had had no idea if Anji would be coming back for it or not- she definitely didn't expect them to come retrieve it at the crack of dawn.

"Oh! Um . . ." Anji managed to find her voice, but that didn't stop her from stumbling over her words. "Actually . . uh . . there's been . . um . . "

Joka looked at his fellow wolf demon with one eyebrow raised for a few awkward seconds before finally turning to Flein himself. "Look . ." He scratched the back of his head, and he seemed to be straining to make eye contact with her. "You still mad at me or anything?"

Now it was Flein's turn to be speechless. She was almost tempted to ask him to repeat himself, but her ears were keen- she knew what he said. But it didn't mean she understood the intent behind his random question.

"_Oh, I see_." she thought, blinking in realization. "_He wants to apologize before they leave. I guess that's more than I was expecting but ._ _._" Getting a stubborn apology from him now was almost too awkward to bear. She wondered if she could stop it now before he continued. She was satisfied with simply knowing that he wanted to, whether it was forced upon him by Anji or not.

"Mad?" Flein finally mumbled, her voice hoarse. Sleepiness still hung over her like a wet blanket, and she was reminded again that she wasn't used to getting up this early. "I . . don't think I was ever _mad_. Exasperated maybe, but . . I'm used to people misunderstanding me so . . it's fine." It was only until after she finished her tired sentence that she realized it would leave the wolf demons with unanswered questions, not to mention it might seem like she wanted to throw a pity party, with herself as the main star. She wished she didn't have to overanalyze her own sentences- or at least, exclude the ones she said at six in the morning.

"Really?! Are you sure?" asked Anji, her blue eyes bright. "You're not mad at me either?"

Flein blinked, subconsciously pulling her tank top a little lower over her thighs. Wearing such a short article of clothing was embarrassing in front of Joka and Talik, but Talik didn't seem interested and Joka seemed like he wanted to avoid looking at her entirely, so neither of them caused Flein to start running for her shorts yet. "Why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know" Anji mumbled. Flein had a feeling that the girl _did_ know of a few reasons why the cat demon could be mad at her, but was abandoning them in fear that Flein would change her mind upon hearing them. Anji balled her hands into fists and held them close to her chest, as if gathering strength. "But if you're not mad at all . . I'd like to continue being a member of Team Musakui!" She paused, releasing a tense breath that looked like it had been stored inside of her for ages. She let her hands fall to her sides. " . . . that is, if you haven't found someone else."

Flein was awake now. "You're . . not going home?" she asked, her brain trying to comprehend the new information.

"Nah. And neither am I." Joka answered for her, although his gaze was directed away from her and at somewhere along the corridor outside of the hotel room. "So if you still needed someone else . . I can help, I guess."

"And I can heal!" Talik added, his bright blonde hair poking out from behind Joka's shoulder.

Flein gripped onto the doorknob for support. Never in her life had she felt the urge to sit so badly. It was still much too early for this sudden intake of information. She briefly wondered if she was still dreaming- although she had to admit, she preferred this dream over the last one.

"You haven't found someone else, have you?" Anji asked, getting more and more anxious the longer Flein was silent. "Because it's completely fine if you have!"

"No . . no, we haven't found anyone." Flein clarified, bringing her hand to her head. Her hair was still tangled from sleep. "Of course you can come back. Joka too . . if he wants." She said the last part doubtfully, as she wasn't entirely sure how willing the dark-haired demon was to joining their team.

"Yaaaay!" Anji cried in relief, clasping her hands together in excitement. The left shoulder of her sweater dropped further down her upper arm, and she hastily pulled it back up.

"Awesome." Joka said, finally revealing a small half-smile. He jerked a thumb at his own chest. "But just because you lead the team, doesn't mean you get to boss me around, got it?" He had said this good-naturedly enough, but was treated to Anji's elbow in his side anyway.

"Don't be rude." she scolded.

"I'm not even the leader." Flein sighed, but a smile still lit up her features. She knew the new group dynamics would make things tough, but Anji was back, and Team Musakui was complete again.

"Oops. Well regardless . ." Joka held his hand out high, his palm facing her, his fingers spread apart slightly. "Consider me a part of the team."

"You got it!" Flein planted an enthusiastic high five onto his palm, having to stand on her toes to reach it.

"Hey!" Joka withdrew his hand in surprise, looking at her reproachfully. "What are you doing?" The other wolf demons looked just as confused- Talik was staring at Joka's withdrawn hand with concern, while Anji was looking at Flein's own hand, which was still raised partially in the air.

"I was giving you a high five?" Flein retracted her own hand in response, although she had no idea what she had done wrong. "It looked like you wanted one?"

"He was expecting you to place your fist on his palm. It's something like a wolf demon handshake."

The smooth voice was a familiar one- just hearing it brought the chaos of last night back to Flein's memory.

The wolf demons turned around to find Kurama standing behind them, wearing the same white shirt and pants as the night before, although now they seemed relatively cleaner. Hiei was close behind him, passing up his companion and continuing ahead, before turning around once he realized the red-haired man had stopped completely in his distraction. His cloak wasn't with him today- he was without clothing on his top half entirely, and was simply adorned in black pants, a sheathed sword at his side.

"_W- why is he shirtless?!_" Flein thought, yanking her sleepwear down. _Now_ she wished she had those shorts with her. But the two demons had already spotted her- running away now to retrieve them would be confusing, at best.

"Good morning, Kurama, Hiei." she said, nodding to each of them. Hiei merely glanced at her, shoving his right arm deeper into the pocket of his pants. He winced slightly before turning his gaze back to Kurama, one foot still planted in front of him. He looked as if he wanted to keep going, but Kurama's interest in the three wolf demons held him there.

"Good morning, Flein." Kurama replied politely, and Flein had to frantically sift through her memories to figure out whether or not she had ever actually introduced herself to him. Then she remembered that Kirda had called out her name in the forest multiple times in an attempt to get her to stop running, so she shouldn't be surprised if the name was now burned into his mind. "And here I thought seeing a cat demon was a rare occurrence! It's been ages since I've seen a wolf demon. They're quite a reclusive bunch, aren't they?"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Joka interrupted, his eyebrow rising again in confusion.

"My apologies. In my curiosity I forgot to introduce myself." Kurama replied, undisturbed by the bluntness of Joka's question. "I'm Kurama, and this is Hiei." He gestured to the fire demon beside him, who was still waiting impatiently a few feet ahead.

"They're part of Team Urameshi." Flein explained further, knowing that the simple knowledge of their names would not be enough to sate the wolf demons' curiosity. She was shielding most of her lower half behind the door now. "They visited us in our hotel room last night." She neglected to mention the reason why they were there in the first place- she hoped that the situation with Rei would be quickly forgotten.

Anji inexplicably looked down to the carpeted floor below, a forlorn expression on her face.

"Well then, nice to meet ya! I'm Joka, and this is Anji and Talik." Joka said obliviously, reflexively raising his hand in the air again but then immediately lowering it after remembering what happened last time. "You said you've seen wolf demons before, but I definitely woulda remembered your face if you were in our village. If they even let you in, anyway."

"I'm positive this would have been before the three of you were born. My methods of getting in the village were not exactly ethical, nor something I'm particularly proud of." Kurama replied, looking away in contemplation. His sentence left a story to tell, and Flein had a feeling it wasn't a good one. He was aware of his audience's expectant faces, but it was obvious he wasn't willing to elaborate. "No matter. It was a lifetime ago."

"Kurama. I'm going ahead." Hiei warned, although he showed no intention of moving. He had somehow slowly advanced several more feet away in the last few minutes.

"Very well. I'll join you." Kurama said, turning his back on the group. Only a brief moment elapsed before he turned back to them as an afterthought. "Tolnij zeld, dafima."

The wolf demons' chins dropped in an almost comedic display of simultaneous bewilderment. "You know Kahojiks?!" Anji cried, taken away from her own introspective silence.

"Baiba! Somkej afen ta jozek?!" Joka laughed, jumping smoothly into his native language without hesitation. Flein stared at Kurama in quiet bafflement, her eyes wide with disbelief. She glanced slightly to the left to see Hiei doing exactly the same thing, which made her come close to letting a loud laugh escape.

"Slow down!" Kurama begged, a drop of sweat sliding down the side of his face. Flein thought she could see his cheeks turn a light shade of pink, although it was hard to believe the man ever got embarrassed. "I admit I was only there for a short time. I've only learned simple phrases-"

"Are you _done_ showing off?" Hiei asked, the pitch of his voice giving away his lingering astonishment. He crossed his arms, shuddered in pain, then shoved them back into his large pockets. Thanks to the thoughtless action, Flein caught a glimpse of his damaged arm- it was charred black, as if he had held it in a fire for an extensive period of time. Just the sight of it made her want to shudder as well. She couldn't help feeling immensely sorry for him, but at the same time she was impressed that he was able to endure the pain without screaming.

"Bye Kurama." Flein smiled knowingly, and Kurama gave one last polite wave before following Hiei into the hotel elevator.

"Anyone want to tell him what he _actually_ said?" Joka grinned, pointing a lazy thumb in his direction.

"Be nice." Anji reminded him, although she was smiling as well.

Before Flein could ask them to let her in on the joke, she heard the bedroom door open slowly across the room. She turned to find Kirda standing there, staring at Flein curiously, her hair undone in wavy black strands that reached all the way to her upper thighs. Rei stood behind her in sloppy black sweatpants, rubbing her eyes drowsily.

"Oh!" Flein gasped, feeling not only guilty that their voices had woken the two up, but that she had not yet invited the wolf demons inside. From where the two girls were standing, their new team members were concealed from view. She ushered the confused demons inside, her arm hastily beckoning them in. "We've got a full team again. And then some." She said her last sentence while looking admirably at Talik, who she was sure would become vital to their team in the upcoming matches.

Although Rei's dazed expression didn't change a bit, Kirda's eyes lit up with recognition. "Anji! You're back!"

"Yes!" Anji replied, accepting an impromptu hug from the water demon. The embrace was short-lived, as Kirda's eyes met Joka's and Talik's. She stepped back to view the newcomers warily.

"This is Joka and Talik." Flein explained, gesturing to the respective males beside her. "Guys, this is Kirda. Over there is Rei."

"Waaaait a minute." Kirda interjected, holding up her hands in front of her chest. She pointed a finger sharply at Joka, then looked over to Flein for clarification. "_This_ is Joka?"

"The one and only!" Joka answered instead, placing his fists on his hips. "I think so, anyway. There might be more."

"I heard you were mean to my Flein." Kirda told him, ignoring his previous comment and sliding between Joka and the cat demon. Flein gritted her teeth in uneasiness. She forgot that her re-telling of their last meeting, while she had tried to stay neutral, might not have left the best impression of Joka.

"You could say that . ." Joka admitted. He backed an inch or two away from Kirda, but the easygoing expression never left his face. "Her appearance is not exactly a good sign where I come from. My bad."

Joka admitting fault left Kirda in momentary surprise before she continued. "If you're going to be a part of our team, then I better not hear you talk bad about her." she explained firmly, arms akimbo. "Because I won't tolerate- . . . are you _sniffing_ me?"

The wolf demon leaned back from his position near her head, where moments before he was softly sniffing the strands of her hair. "Yeah? Why?"

"I . . . haven't washed my hair yet today . . ." Kirda said slowly, her dark green eyes fixed widely on Joka.

"So?" Joka moved on to Rei, who was already backing away from him, her eyebrows lowered in a grimace.

"Don't do thaaaat." Anji pleaded, her face red. Talik focused his gaze on the window curtains, too embarrassed to watch the situation unfold.

"Why not? They're new." Joka explained, as if it were the most natural reaction in the world.

"Can't you tell they don't do that here?!" Anji insisted, covering her cheeks with her hands.

"I didn't get a greeting like that." Flein said, amused at Rei's attempts to duck out of Joka's sniffing range.

"I didn't want to smell _you_." Joka clarified, before turning back to Rei. He lightly sniffed her bun, then squinted his left eye in a wince.

"Gee, thanks." Flein rolled her eyes, although she could have predicted that answer.

"Don't be _rude_!" Anji scolded Joka, looking mortified beyond belief. He ignored her, pinching his nose with his fingers.

"By the way, this one stinks." he declared, pointing another finger at Rei. Her eyes widened in horror, and she involuntarily covered her bun with her hands, as if this would take back whatever Joka had smelled.

"What did I just _say_?!" Anji cried, sinking to the ground in a defeated crouch. Flein heard Kirda erupt into a short cackle beside her.

"What? It's true!" Joka persisted, causing Rei to glare daggers at his back. "I don't even think I've smelled something like that before!"

"I _know_ that but . ." Anji hissed loudly behind her hand. Rei abruptly turned her back to the group, her black bun wobbling on top of her head.

"I'm getting dressed." she said curtly, before storming off into the bedroom and slamming the door behind her. Joka looked at the closed door in confusion before shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, you've already made Rei leave the room. I guess I can't hate you too badly for that!" Kirda laughed.

"As much as I'd hate to follow her, getting dressed and ready is probably a good idea." Flein mentioned, thinking of their upcoming match. It was still early in the morning, but they had no idea what time it would be. There was no chance she could go back to sleep now anyway.

She turned to the wolf demons, who were now loitering around casually in the sitting room. "Um . . make yourself at home in the meantime."


	27. Chapter 27: A Secret

Author's Note:

A special note to all of the readers: Team Musakui needs original characters to fight against!

If you'd like to see your own OC in the story, whether it is based on yourself or someone you made up, please PM me their bio (appearance, personality, powers, etc) and what you'd like their fate to be! =P (in other words, I won't shame or kill your character unless you're okay with it!)

CREDIT WILL BE GIVEN TO THE CREATORS!

Enjoy, and check out YYHTheLostChapters on DeviantArt for new pictures of the characters!

Chapter 27: A Secret

Flein adjusted the unfamiliar red crop top, pulling down the slim-fitting hem until it spread evenly over the bottom of her rib cage. She had to wonder how the article of clothing ever managed to fit over Rei's ample chest without revealing parts of her body best left to the imagination.

"Thanks for letting us borrow your clothes, by the way." Flein said to Rei, who was staring wordlessly at the elevator buttons on their way down to the lobby. Team Musakui, now a team of six, left little room to spare in the cramped space.

"You can keep them." They were Rei's first words since she had thrown her large pink duffel bag onto the bed earlier, and said "Take whatever's in there." Flein and Kirda hadn't brought any extra clothes with them on their trip to Hanging Neck Island- even Flein's sleepwear was formerly a part of Rei's wardrobe. The girl had packed far more than was required- especially since she only insisted on wearing the finest clothes out of her selection. Of course, she had been sure to remove all of her expensive dresses before letting Flein and Kirda pick their preference.

"Are you sure?!" Kirda asked in disbelief. She was still in awe over her new outfit- a Chinese-inspired long-sleeved blue top and a black skirt, which had still had a tag attached to it a few minutes ago. It was doubtful that Rei had even worn some of the clothes- and if she did, they had only been used a couple times at most. "I feel bad just taking your clothes! But I gotta say that I love the fact that the skirt has a panda on it! It's my favorite animal!"

"I wanted to get rid of them anyway. I originally brought them because I didn't care if they got dirty." Rei explained, stepping out of the elevator without looking behind her. Flein had to tread carefully on the smooth tile floors of the hotel lobby- her pantlegs were more suitable for Rei's height, and they threatened to trip her at any moment. She had to make a mental note to adjust them if they were to become a permanent part of her wardrobe. "It's just off-brand stuff. I don't want to be seen wearing them when I make my debut."

Rei herself was predictably adorned in thigh-high thin stockings, the lacy collar of her white dress dipping down dangerously close to the bustline. The garment fanned out in pink frills toward the bottom, which ended just above her stockings. Her sense of style never failed to attract the most attention in any situation or environment- and anyone could tell the girl preferred it that way.

"So is that a ceremonial dress or somethin'?" Joka asked as they stepped through the hotel's sliding doors and out into the sunlight. Flein had to walk blindly for a few moments- the lack of clouds covering the sun made it practically impossible for her eyes to adjust.

Rei finally turned to Joka, acknowledging him for the first time since his comment about her odor in the hotel room. The remark had left her in a foul mood for most of the morning, and it was a surprise she was even willing to speak. "What? No." she said, her eyebrows furrowing in contempt. She looked almost offended by his lack of fashion knowledge. "It's _ero lolita_."

"I don't know what that is, but it looks fancy enough to summon the Sun God." Joka replied jovially. He was absentmindedly tugging at the zipper of his red jacket, most likely tempted to take it off in the warmth. Flein was wondering if her cropped long-sleeved jacket would come off at some point too.

"The Sun God?" Now Rei was interested. They were making their way to the forest trail that would take them to the stadium, and Flein could hear the ocean waves lapping up onto the jagged side of the island. Rei lagged behind to look at Joka without malice for the first time. "You think so?"

"'Course we'd have to cut off your head and dress it in garlic cloves, but at least you'd look the part." Joka grinned, hands hidden in his pockets. Rei recoiled away from him almost as if he were going to start sawing off her head himself.

"Please do it!" Kirda called back from the front of the group, followed by a short cackle.

Flein didn't hear the resulting banter from her friends- her feline ears had picked up a far more interesting sound coming from the ocean. Somewhere among the sounds of the waves was a noise that didn't quite match- grunting, panting, like a wounded animal. The sound was only barely audible- her squabbling companions didn't seem to hear anything out of the ordinary.

"_There shouldn't be anything down there_." she thought, gradually drifting away from her distracted teammates and toward the sharp, inclined ridge of the island. She knew this side of the island contained no safe or sandy slope to the ocean- only a steep jump to jagged rocks below. Any animal that had had the misfortune of slipping off of the cliff would only be slowly dying upon these rocks, or fighting to keep their head above the salty water. Yet somehow, she couldn't stop herself from taking a peek.

The sound of her friends' laughter declined in volume as she approached the edge of the island. The blue ocean seemed to have no end in sight, and standing near the cliff gave Flein a strange sense of vertigo. Peering over the island's hard surface, only the steady waves were visible at first. But the heavy breathing of a living being- a person- had only gotten clearer.

Flein got on her knees, and peeked over and under the edge of the cliff, her blonde hair falling down her shoulders. She gripped hard onto the edge of the rocky surface, desperate not to become the ocean's second victim. After a few moments of searching, she finally caught a glimpse of a large rock jutting out of the surface of the ocean, waves crashing against it as if attempting to destroy it. It was what was upon this rock that was making the curious noise.

A gasp escaped her, and she scrambled to keep a hold of the rocks beneath her hands. There, obscured from the public eye completely, was Hiei, taking several sharp breaths between his gritted teeth. He was kneeling over in extreme pain, the top of his head touching the rock beneath him, completely oblivious to the ocean water that was pouring on him from the waves. If it weren't for the trembling in every part of his body, Flein would have assumed he was doing a strange form of morning exercises. The scorched hand he was holding tightly underneath his body proved otherwise.

Breathing deeply, Flein pushed herself up to a sitting position, her arms shaking. Holding herself in that position had already taken a lot out of her, considering she had to strain her neck and back to be able to glimpse even a portion of Hiei. The fire demon had hidden himself well- _no one _was intended to find him in that condition.

Just standing up took some effort with her quivering legs. This time the shaking wasn't because of the strain of keeping herself from falling- she had seen something she wasn't meant to see.

"Hey Flein! What are you doing?" Kirda's voice carried over to her position, and she quickly turned around, assuming a neutral expression.

"Just looking at the sea." Flein explained as she jogged over to the rest of her team. She sounded breathless- she hoped her friends didn't wonder why. "I was just thinking that we're on an island- we should take advantage of it sometime and go swimming."

She didn't know why she felt the need to lie. In reality, even though she barely knew any of Team Urameshi's members, she was deeply worried for the man she saw trembling on the rock below. Yet for some reason, she felt as though she had seen a private act- like peeking through someone's bedroom window, or looking through their personal items. The thought of him glancing up and discovering her staring at him from the cliff above made Flein want to just plunge herself into the ocean instead.

"If we ever have free time, maybe we can find a beach!" Kirda suggested, unaware of Flein's current state of mind. Rei was staring into the forest dejectedly with her arms crossed while Joka was looking at Anji with a victorious smile on his face- obviously Flein had missed something.

"Can we _go_ now?" Rei pouted and charged ahead, a frilly purse dangling from her shoulder. The group collectively followed her onto the forest trail, Flein taking one last glance behind her at the ocean.

"_Should I have done something?_" was the thought swirling around and around in her head. Obviously the pain left over from the Dragon of the Darkness Flame was overwhelming, but Flein knew that Hiei did not get to that spot on accident. Landing on that rock would have required significant skill, not to mention that finding it would have been the result of searching for a secluded place. He was aware that he would be doubled over in pain- and he didn't want anyone to see him. In the end, the fire demon felt the need to suffer by himself.

"_If I tried to help him, he'd probably be embarrassed, or angry that I intruded . ._" Flein thought, her eyes on the dirt path. She was going through scenario after scenario in her head, even though she knew by now that she wasn't going to act on any of them. "_Especially considering I might as well be a stranger . ._"

Yet still, there was one scenario that kept coming back to her mind, no matter how many times she tried to shove it away. The most unlikely possibilities are most often the most attractive ones- and even Flein's desire to think of realistic situations couldn't stop her from dwelling on it. The compelling scenario consisted of a grateful Hiei, or perhaps a Hiei that was impressed that she was able to find him. Her consideration and ability to help him in his time of need might be thought of as trivial at first, yet perhaps in the future it would affect his view of her, resulting in a growing bond between the two . .

"_Why am I thinking about this?!_" she thought, shaking her head. She knew it might as well be a daydream, yet somehow she liked to replay it over and over in her head. She was aware that she admired the demon for his impressive demonstration in his first match- yet she didn't want to admit that she was also intrigued by him. Discovering him in his moment of weakness, a secret that only they shared, only increased her desire to interact with him. "_I can't make friends now- he might be my opponent later on._"

"Are you okay?"

Flein snapped out of her trance and turned to see Kirda gazing at her in concern. She hadn't been aware that she was crossing her arms and staring into the forest as she was walking- she could only imagine the type of serious expression she had on her face.

"I'm fine!" Flein assured her, consciously returning her arms to her sides. "I guess I'm just thinking about what kind of people we'll be fighting-"

She stopped short when she heard a rustling from inside the forest, followed by footsteps. Despite the fact that there was an obvious trail clear of trees, someone was sneaking around in the bushes.

"_More noises. Great._" Flein thought, her ears twitching. Unlike last time, her companions heard it too- everyone stopped walking and stared into the dense patch of trees.

Only a second passed since the noise was heard that the figure unashamedly stepped out of the forest and onto the trail, heading in the opposite direction. Their eyes met with his at the same time, causing the familiar boy to stop in place as well.

"Hey, it's the lady team from before!" Yusuke declared to himself. His face was littered in bandages- a patch on his forehead, another on his cheek, and one draped over the bridge of his nose. Flein had to guess that these were the result of his match with Chu, yet she had to admit- for a human, he wasn't damaged as much as she expected from that battle.

Yusuke's eyes drifted to Joka and Talik, who were staring back at him curiously. ". . . with an added pair of dudes, I see. Awesome."

"I saw your friend-" The words were out before Flein could stop them. She cut her sentence short, and for a few panicked seconds, didn't know how to finish it. She hadn't wanted to reveal Hiei's secret- yet somehow, she had started to blurt it out anyway. Maybe it was some sort of subconscious desire to help the fire demon that made her want to tell Yusuke about his teammate's trouble. "I . . saw your friends this morning. They must have left really early."

"Oh, Hiei and Kurama? So I've heard." Yusuke replied. He turned to glance at the forest behind him, his eyes narrowed in suspicion, before turning back to the girls. Flein tried to trace where he was looking, yet she didn't find anything noticeable within the trees.

"Where are you off to?" Kirda asked politely. Flein was curious about this too- even though there were matches today, Yusuke was heading toward the hotel.

"Trying to find a good-sized rock to do a hand stand on." He answered casually, one hand inside the pocket of his denim jeans. There was a brief lull in the conversation as Yusuke's answer was met with confused silence. The boy blinked in realization, and then held up his pointer finger, as if this would explain everything. "Don't ask. It's part of my training."

"Ah. Getting in some training before your match today?" Kirda asked, almost as if she wanted to prolong the conversation. Flein wondered if she would eventually sense the appropriate time to let him continue about his business, or if she would have to steer them away.

"There's no matches for us today, so it's more like I'm training for tomorrow." Yusuke explained, then scanned Team Musakui thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, you should have a day off too. Correct me if I'm stupid, but I'm pretty sure you fought after we did yesterday. And I'm assuming you won, since all of you are intact."

"Yeah . . we did." Flein said slowly. She could feel embarrassment coming on, although she didn't understand why yet.

"Soooo . . since it's still the first round matches today, the next time you'll be fighting is tomorrow." Yusuke clarified, scratching his cheek. His bandage was slowly peeling off, a corner unfurling. He stole another glance behind him, but quickly turned back to the group.

"Really?!" Kirda said. Flein could feel the mood lift around her, almost like there was a coat of anxiety draped over them that she wasn't aware of before. "I didn't even know we _had_ days off! That's so exciting!"

Flein noticed that Yusuke's expression didn't seem to match their mood- he was glaring behind him now, one eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "'Scuse me, ladies. I gotta take care of something real fast."

He ran over to a large bush that had been a few feet behind him, and forcefully rammed his arm through the middle, yanking out a head of bright orange hair. "What, now you're _stalking_ me?!"

Kuwabara toppled to the ground at Yusuke's feet, his curly hair a mess after his friend had grabbed a fistful of it. He quickly launched up to his feet, rubbing his head vigorously. Just seeing him brought Flein back to the dream she had had that morning, and she fought the odd feeling of deja vu. She wished it was a dream she could forget- now it was unlikely that she would ever look at the human the same way again. "No! I was just takin' a walk Urameshi, is that a crime?!"

"Well why don't you take a _hike_ instead and mind your own damn business!" Yusuke retorted, his brown eyes flashing in irritation. But Kuwabara was no longer looking at him.

"Who is that behind you?" he asked, pointing a finger at the space behind Yusuke. Flein turned her gaze to the spot as well, and her stomach dropped as she realized she didn't notice one of her group members had snuck away.

Joka was standing behind Yusuke, sniffing his shoulder intensely, his tail wagging in anticipation. A few sniffs later he winced, scrunched up his nose in detest, then stared pointedly at Rei. "He smells just like you!"

"The hell?" Yusuke said, his irritated expression giving way to confusion.

"I'm not sure if you should be offended or not." Flein informed Rei, who was pretending she hadn't heard what Joka had said. Anji was covering her face again, though one eye was peeking at the disaster through a gap in her fingers.

Joka had moved on to Kuwabara now, whose bottom eyelid had lifted up in an expression of confusion and disgust. "What's with this guy? He's invading my personal space!"

Joka barely inched his nose to Kuwabara's shoulder before he grimaced. "You also smell like the Sun God sacrifice!" he declared to him, his eyes wide with shock.

"_What_?!" Kuwabara squeaked, involuntarily jumping away from the wolf demon. He took several big whiffs of the sleeve of his dark blue shirt, but couldn't seem to find any notable smell.

"Now you should _definitely_ be offended." Flein told Rei, who was trying even harder to ignore the situation.

Within the brief moment she had her head turned to Rei, a loud smashing sound occurred, and Flein whipped her head back in front of her to find an entire tree limb had seemed to have exploded off of its trunk, falling to the ground below. Yusuke and Kuwabara seemed to have jumped out of its path, Yusuke's hand gripping the collar of Kuwabara's cotton shirt. Joka had also dodged the branch, his back to her now.

"Spirit Detective Yusuke Urameshi. Nice to meet you."

Everyone turned toward the deep, unfamiliar voice coming from the bushes. Its owner still remained hidden, although it was obvious that the sudden chaos was caused by him.

"Shut up! Who are you?" Yusuke demanded, sounding more exasperated than afraid. He pulled himself to his feet, dragging Kuwabara up with him.

The bright red light on the figure's mask was visible before the rest of him. A large demon stood up from his hiding place in the bushes, towering over the rest of them by several feet. His attire could only be described as armor instead of clothes, although much of his chest still remained bare. Holding out his hand, he materialized a football-like object out of thin air, and it soon became obvious that this ball was the cause of the previous destruction.

"Rugby."


End file.
